Friendship and Love
by Zenerific1
Summary: He heard the quiet sobs coming from the bush as he was passing by it on the way home, frowning he peered at the bush but didn’t get any closer. Sasuke X FemNaruto AU. Once again a Rating Change ITS BACK TO M PEOPLE!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yep, it's me and, yes, I am posting a new story. I feel the need to apologize to my fans, I posted a few stories which I have since taken down because I wasn't able to continue with the muse on them. I will continue to work on them and hopefully finish them, if I do I will repost them but I didn't think it fair to keep them up in their incomplete state. I sincerely am sorry thought.**

**This is a little story about Sasuke and (Fem) Naruto and how they first met, grew-up, and fell in love!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. *looks at Kishimoto-san* Are you sure? But he's so adorable! *clutches Naruto's arm and refuses to let go* Oh, Shit! *gets thrown out by big, burly security guards* Kuso! I was sooo CLOSE!**

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**Friendship and Love**

**Chapter 1**

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He hear the quiet sobs coming from the bush as he was passing by it on the way home, frowning he peered at the bush but didn't get any closer. He tried to see through the leaves and branches for the source of the sad sound that was making his heart hurt as he listened to it. He thought that he saw a glint of blue but couldn't be sure as the bush rustled and the sounds moved deeper and farther away.

"Hey, are you alright?" he felt sort of silly talking to the bush and hoped that no one was looking at him weirdly. He reluctantly took a step closer to the bush and reached out a hand only to jerk it back when a huge black spider dropped right onto the bush in front of him. He wrinkled his nose and shuddered at the creature. Argh! He hated spiders!

"Hey," he called again, "you should come out of there! There are big spiders all over the place!" He shifted his weight from side to side unable to decide what to do. He wanted to run from the creepy thing that was getting closer but he also wanted to know who was in the bush crying.

"I'm not afraid of them," said the wet voice along with a huge sniffle.

"Yeah, I'm not either, but they are creepy," he said back. "Why are you in there in the first place, don't you know that school is going to start soon? We need to get to school!"

He couldn't imagine anything worse than to be late for school. His father would hear about it and then he would be grounded from going with his brother while he trained. That would be really, really bad if he couldn't go watch his brother as he trained. And even worse would be if his father yelled at him because he had been late to school.

"Who cares?" called the voice, "No one cares if I'm not there. And if I wasn't there then no one could pick on me. You can just leave me here and go!'

He took a step in the direction of the school only to stop and look back at the bush. He sighed heavily knowing that he was going to be in so much trouble but he couldn't bring himself to leave the occupant of the bush, whoever it was.

"Fine, then if you won't come to school, then I just have to stay here," he told the bush but didn't get any closer, glad that the spider that had been threatening him earlier had disappeared but he kept a close eye out for it just in case. He sat down on the ground, pulled the tote that held his school supplies in, and pulled out his reading book. It was one of his favorites, about a boy that made friends with a fox, he briefly wondered if they grew up and got married, then laughed at the fantasy because humans didn't marry animals.

"How about I read you a story?" he asked as he opened the book to the first page. He began reading hesitating over some of the harder words and sounding more unfamiliar ones out as he read out loud. He heard the rustling in the bushes getting closer but ignored it only to smile to himself and continue the story, coaxing the person out of the bush. He got to the part where the fox was shot by a hunter and heard a gasp from his left. He looked up into huge sky blue eyes surrounded by a halo of long yellow hair. He blinked at the small angel that had immerged from the bush.

Cupid's bow lips were upturned into a large grin which made him want to smile back at her also. She was tanned and mussed with leaves and sticks in her messy pigtails and she started to pull the debris from it wincing every now and then. She had high rounded cheek bones and three vertical lines that marred the skin on each one giving her the distinctly exotic look of a fox.

"Well, what happens next," she demanded loudly as she pulled herself from the bush, swiping at a spider that was hanging from the end of her pigtail. He shivered at the thought of that thing being on him but didn't look away from the vision. She crawled over to sit next to him and peered at the picture in the book her shoulder knocking softly against his breaking him out of his trance.

He looked back at the book and tried to find his place. "Um," he said scanning the page for the last sentence he read. "Well, the hunter…" he continued feeling his body become hot as he face went pink. He continued with the story of how the heart broken boy nursed the injured fox back to health only to have to give the fox up to the wilderness because that was where wild animals belonged, living free.

"Wow, that was a good story!" the little cherub said when he finished and closed the book. "Is there another story with them in it?"

"No," he said as he put the book back in the tote that held the rest of his school stuff. He got to his feet and brushed the dirt from his butt. "Why were you in there?"

"Because Kiba pushed me down and ripped my new skirt," she pouted showing him the rather large rip in the orange skirt that she was wearing along with a bright orange shirt. She fingered the edges looking forlornly at the ruined material. She too had a tote but hers was that same bright orange as her shirt.

"Can't your mom sew it up?" he asked.

"I don't have a mom," she said looking up at him with those wide eyes that made his heart hammer in his chest.

"What about your dad?"

She laughed. "Iruka wouldn't know how!"

"You call your dad, Iruka?"

"He's not really my dad, he adopted me when I was really little," she informed him.

He couldn't really imagine not having a mother or a father that would be worse than not being able to watch his brother train. He felt a small ache for the girl in front of him. "I have a safety pin in my bag I can use it to hold the two sides together and then it won't rip any further."

"Okay," she said.

Finding the pin, he carefully closed the rip and pinned it together. "Well, we really need to get to school as it is I'm going to be in so much trouble. I'm sure that they've called my parents and probably your Iruka as well."

The girl looked down at the ground suddenly sad again but she nodded reluctantly. He led the way down the last couple blocks to the school and held the door open for her so that they could enter the now silent hallway.

"What class do you have?" he asked as he walked down the corridor.

"Mrs. Johnson's" she muttered quietly.

He frowned at the down turned head wanting to cheer her up again but he didn't know how and he didn't know how shy she was, so sad when she had been very animated earlier.

"I know where that is, um, how about I go to class with you?" he suggested then stepped back when the girl suddenly slung slender arms around his neck.

"You would do that? Oh, thank you!" Then she was pulling him down the hallway and through a classroom door.

"Naruto! Where have you been?" the teacher asked as she sternly looked at the girl.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Johnson! This is…um, what is your name?' she asked looking at the tousled boy who was had pulled himself to his full height after the sudden loss of his dignity to the small cherub.

"I'm Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke," he said brushing his clothing off and straightening the wrinkles.

"Really? You're the boy that all the girls are always mooning over?" Naruto asked peering closely at him ignoring the sudden giggles that were coming from a group of girls in the front row.

"Hn."

"Oh! Mrs. Johnson! This is Sasuke and he said that he would like to be in our class today, do you mind?" the girl exclaimed in a rush.

"Fine, Naruto, will you please take Mr. Uchiha and go find a seat. You've disrupted class enough for one day,' the teacher said in exasperation as she rubbed her temples as if trying to ward off a headache.

Naruto pulled him to the back of the room to a conspicuously empty table and sat down. She sighed when a rough looking boy with unkempt brown hair chucked a small wad of paper at her hitting her in the forehead. She rolled her eyes as she picked up the ball and flattened it out to reveal a picture of a stick monster with pigtails picking up the stick kids and eating them.

"Why did he do that?" Sasuke asked looking at the picture over her shoulder. "He's not very good, is he?"

Naruto giggled lightly but couldn't dismiss the first question. "They think that I'm going to turn into a demon and eat them." She waved in the direction of the other students in the class who were casting fearful looks over their shoulders at Naruto.

"Why would they think that?"

"I don't know."

She waded up the ball again setting it on the corner of her desk, and then pulled up her own tote up to the table and pulled out a pencil and a wrinkled sheet of paper to begin practicing the words that the teacher was writing on the wall dismissing the conversation. Sasuke followed suit when he noticed that they were on the same lesson.

A couple of hours later, the bell rang signaling the end of class and beginning of lunch and Naruto stood up. "Hey, if we hurry then we can get in line first!' she again latched onto his hand a pulled him out of the class. Once in the hallway they were jostled about going with the flow of the traffic. Naruto glanced back once then she abruptly came to halt and bent over clutching her stomach as a taller boy stood in front of her.

Sasuke at once realized that the boy had just punch Naruto and he came up to her side glaring his best Uchiha glare at the boy who immediately took a step back.

"Sasuke!"

"What are you doing?" he asked in his best imitation of his father even managing to look down his nose at the boy.

The boy quelled under the Uchiha's stare and backed away hands up in surrender. "I didn't know she was a friend of yours, Sasuke." The boy turned a fled up the hallway away from the pair and the students surrounding them moved away quickly before they drew Sasuke's attention to them. The noise level resumed as the children swarmed towards the cafeteria for lunch.

He turned back to the girl who was now kneeling on the floor holding her stomach and staring up at him with wide eyes.

"You're scary when you glare," she whispered as she stumbled to her feet. She winced and gasped when Sasuke took her hand and pulled her into the boys' restroom. "Hey, I can't be in here!"

"Shut up," he muttered then pulled the hem of her shirt up so that he could see her belly and the red mark that was forming. She squawked and tried to shove him away but being a boy had some distinct advantages when it comes to strength. And he was able to keep his hold on her and ignore her struggles long enough to assess the damage to her and deem her fit enough not to need the nurse. She lifted a foot and set it into his tummy pushing with all her strength getting him to step back. He rolled his eyes, "you'll be fine," he muttered before pushing her foot off him.

They made it back out into the hallway without anyone discovering Naruto being in a male only place and down to the cafeteria. They were the last in line much to Naruto's disappointment because all the good desserts would be taken. Seeing that the chocolate pudding with whipped cream was gone leaving only the green gelatin with grapes she sighed forlornly and took a seat at table only to have the other students quickly get up and move to another.

Sasuke blinked at them and sat down next to his new friend in puzzlement at the behavior of the kids. He had seen it before but before he didn't know the girl and he really didn't see the reasons that the boys and girls his age treated her this way. He'd hear the whispers that she had been abandoned by her parents so there must be something wrong with her, but he'd never really paid attention enough to care. He frowned when he saw Neji wave at him from across the cafeteria surprise in his pink eyes when Sasuke shook his head then sat down next to Naruto.

"It's alright, Sasuke, you can go eat with your friends," Naruto shrugged having seen the boy wave at Sasuke. She smiled slightly but it didn't reach her eyes and she looked back down at her tray pushing the food around before taking a small bite and wrinkling her nose.

"But I agreed to be with you today," Sasuke said, "and when an Uchiha gives a promise he sticks with it." He nodded for emphasis as if that were enough to prove his point.

Naruto eyed him from under a fringe of fluffy yellow bangs looking for any sign to say that he felt pity for her, but she grinned widely at him not seeing any and nodded back. She took another bite of the instant potatoes grimaced again before dumping ketchup over them and resumed eating.

Sasuke watched in disgust before he tasted his own potatoes and agreed with Naruto that they tasted gross and dumped ketchup over them also because that was the only way he was going to be able to eat them. Once the ketchup was mixed in they weren't half bad and more tolerable then before. Naruto noticed this and continued eating smugly the ketchup flavored potatoes and the dried out meatloaf.

"What's your favorite food?" Naruto suddenly asked as she fished slimy grapes out of the gelatin turning what was left into a thick, lumpy, slim.

"Hn?" he asked distracted as she used her spoon to pull a grape from the green mess and place it to the side of her tray.

"Favorite food! I love ramen it's the best especially when Iruka takes me out to Ichiraku's Ramen Shop! We go every Friday!"

"Oh, um, I like tomatoes."

"Tomatoes! That's not a food!" Naruto scrunched up her nose at that. "How can you eat those, there like slimy and yucky?"

"I just do! My mom slices them up and shakes a little sugar on them and they're good!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Naruto subsided knowing that any remark about his mom allowing him to eat tomatoes would probably lose her, her only friend. She just eyed him from under her bangs again thinking about tomatoes in disgust.

"You should come with us to Ichiraku's tomorrow," Naruto suggested before pushing her gelatin away because she was done and waited for Sasuke to finish.

"You'll have to get your Iruka's permission and I have to ask my parents but after today I'm probably going to be grounded and won't be able to go anyway."

"Oh," Naruto felt bad for causing him so much trouble earlier, but she didn't know that she was going to make a friend today if she had she certainly wouldn't have made him wait for her to come out of the bush. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be. I'm the one who waited; I could have gone to school and left you there."

"Yeah, but if you had you wouldn't have a new friend."

"Yeah."

They picked up their trays when the teachers dismissed them and went back to the classroom where the teacher told them to take out their crayons, scissors, and glue because they were going to start an art project.

Naruto squinted at her fingers as she tried to pry them apart. Sasuke walked along side her watching in bemusement as she sneered at her fingers as if she was trying to scare them into doing what she wanted.

"I told you to be careful or you would glue something together other than the picture," he smirked before taking her hand in his and prying them apart himself. She wrinkled her nose even more then shrugging her small shoulders and skipping up the sidewalk.

"Finally!" she grinned back at him in jubilation as she flung her arms out and twirled in a little dance happy to be out of the school and the confining classroom. "Hey, I can show you my special place!"

"No, I have to get home," Sasuke said rolling his eyes at the girl's antics then picking up his pace so that he could catch up to her skipping.

"Aw, really?" Naruto stopped skipping and looked at him with sad eyes.

"Yeah, but you could come over to my house," he suggested and saw her eyes light up. For some reason he really liked seeing her like this if gave him a warm feeling in his chest to make her happy.

"I can? Are you sure?" she nervously fingered the rip on her dress then looked down at it. "I—I don't think…"

"You're coming to my house," he said sternly. "When we get there you can call your Iruka and let him know where you are. Besides, my mom can fix that rip in no time."

Naruto looked up at him with hopeful eyes then flung her arms around him again burying her face in his shoulder. He felt hot tears soak into his shirt and he felt horrible for making her cry even though he had no idea how he had done it. "Thank you, Sasuke!"

When she pulled back he took a step away unsure whether he should apologize to her for causing her to cry again. But she scrubbed her face to get rid of the lingering tears and smiled at him. He shook his head completely baffled by this small cherubic creature. Naruto tucked her hand in his and they set off again in the direction of his house.

Naruto paused at the white gate that opened up to his front yard and gaped at the house that occupied a large amount of space. She stumbled back, blinking in fear as Sasuke gripped her hand tighter to keep her from running off. "Sa—Sasuke, I—I can't go in there!" She tugged at her hand to get him to release her but he refused to let go.

"Why not?"

"Because, you're like a prince or a king or something!"

"I'm not either," he pulled her along with him up the front steps and through the large front door. "There you're inside now." He toed his shoes off leaving them by the door then pulled his tote over his head and dropped it onto the marbled floor of the foyer.

Naruto sat down and pulled her own shiny orange shoes off then set them carefully by the door as she had been taught by Iruka then pulled off her tote and set it by them so that she would know where they were when she needed to leave.

Sasuke led her through several rooms then into the kitchen where a dark haired woman who looked a lot like Sasuke was busy mixing something in a bowl. She wore a white ruffled apron that reminded Naruto of Iruka's when he cooked and a wide smile as her son clambered onto a stool at the counter.

"Sasuke, dear! How was school today?" she asked then caught sight of the girl who was peering around her son. "Oh! Who is this?" She set the bowl down and wiped her hands on a near by towel before coming around the counter.

"Mom, this is Naruto. I met her today and went to her class," Sasuke introduced them. "Naruto, this is my mom, Mikoto."

"Naruto, it a pleasure to meet you. Sasuke doesn't bring home friends very often so you're welcome any time!" Sasuke's mom held out her hand to Naruto who hesitantly took it allowed it to be shaken with a small smile at the woman.

"Thank you," Naruto said feeling better instantly at the warmth that Sasuke's mom was showing her.

"What's your last name, dear?"

"Uzumaki."

"Oh, really! Was your mother named Kushina?" Mikoto looked down at the girl in surprise at the girl's last name.

"Yes," Naruto responded confused by the question because no one usually asked who her parents were.

"That's wonderful. I knew your mother, we went to school together! How is she?" Mikoto moved back to the bowl to continue mixing what ever was inside it.

"I…don't know, she went away and didn't come back." Naruto hung her head waiting for the woman to kick her out now that she knew.

"Oh, Naruto! I'm so sorry," Mikoto quickly came back and hugged the small girl to her.

Naruto looked at Sasuke in surprise but didn't pull away from the embrace. Sasuke looked at the ceiling in exasperation at his mom and Naruto's confusion then grinned at her behind his mother's back.

"Mom, Naruto's dress was ripped and her Iruka won't be able to fix it so could you do it?" Sasuke asked remembering his promise to Naruto.

"Of course, dear. Why don't you show Naruto your room and get her a pair of pants so that I can get the skirt and sew it up properly? You should have some shorts left from last summer, they'll be too big but they'll fit better than this years," Mikoto suggested as she shooed them out of the kitchen. 'I just have to put the cake in and then I'll be able to do it." She turned away to do just that dismissing her son and his friend.

Naruto followed Sasuke through the house still awed by the size and niceness of it. There were framed pictures everywhere and little table with vase that held flowers, it was just so pretty that she was afraid that she would knock something over and Sasuke would have to tell her to leave. They went up a staircase then down a corridor that held several rooms before Sasuke finally opened the door to one of them. She peaked inside and saw that the walls were painted a lovely deep shade of blue and there were stars glued to the walls and ceiling, several clustered together to create patterns that mystified Naruto.

"Come on," Sasuke said then took her hand once more and pulled her into the room to shut the door behind them.

Naruto stood in the middle of the room and took in everything as Sasuke rummaged in her drawers looking for the short his mother suggested. Sasuke's bed had four long posts at each corner but the bedspread was the same deep blue but with planets strewn across it in a bright pattern and a telescope was set up so that he could look out his window and into the heavens. He had his own computer which took up one wall along with a TV and brand new games system. There were various posters hung all over the walls, depicting some famous people, wolves, and several that where of space itself. She had a hard time matching up the Sasuke she'd hung out with all day to a person whose room had dirty clothes scattered across it, the bed was rumpled and several balls as well as a bat was shoved into a corner. Sasuke wasn't a very neat house keeper and Naruto envied him that freedom because Iruka always made her clean her room, put her dirty clothed in the clothes hamper and make her bed before she had to go to school in the morning.

"Here," Sasuke said finally emerging from the draw holding up a pair of black short for Naruto. He tossed them to her before shuffling some of the clothes into a corner with his feet. "You can change in the bathroom."

"Where's the bathroom?" Naruto asked when he made no move to show her it.

"Heh, it's through there," he said and pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room.

Naruto nodded then remembered. "Oh, I have to call Iruka!"

"Right," Sasuke said then began to dig around the room coming up with a cord then pulling on it he found the phone.

"You have your own phone!" Naruto exclaimed taking the instrument from him.

"Yeah, don't you?"

"No!" She quickly dialed her phone number and waited for Iruka to answer.

"Naruto! I expected you home half an hour ago!" Iruka exclaimed in a loud shout which cause the girl to pull the phone away from her ear. "Where are you?"

"Iuka! Guess what? I made a friend today and he invited me over to his house. His mom is going to fix my skirt and I'm going to show him my secret place tomorrow if he's not in trouble." Naruto blurted almost all at once. The words seemed to run together in Naruto's rush to get them out.

Iruka calmed down enough and began the task of deciphering her words. "You made a friend?"

"Yes!"

"That's wonderful, honey! Why is his mom fixing your skirt, it was brand new?"

"Kiba pushed me down and it ripped! I couldn't go to school with a ripped skirt so I hid in the bushes."

"Then how did you meet this new friend?"

"He came and told me a story so that I would come out of the bushes. He used a pin to put the rip together so that it didn't get bigger and he came to class with me!"

"Oh, and your at his house? Who is he and who are his parents?"

"His name is Uchiha Sasuke and his mom is Mikoto. She says that she knew my mom a long time ago."

"Ahh, so she's fixing you skirt?"

"Yes, I have to go put on some shorts so that she can have the skirt and fix it properly." Naruto told him. "So is it alright if I stay for a while?"

"I suppose so, but you need to come home in an hour and a half. Kakashi is coming over for dinner tonight!"

Naruto groaned, "Iruka-a-a, he's always coming over."

"That's because we are family! Now unless you want to get on my bad side young woman I don't want to hear another word about it."

"Yes, sir. I'll come home in an hour and a half." She hung up the phone before he could say anything more and looked at Sasuke with a look that twisted up her lips in a cute little grimace.

"My Iruka has a crush on Kakashi and so he comes over nearly every night!" She groused.

"Is that bad?" Sasuke asked.

"No, but he's kind of…different. He always seems to be reading and when he isn't he pulls Iruka into the kitchen and kisses him." Naruto shuddered at the grossness of this before bouncing to the bathroom. "I've got to put these on so that your mom can fix my skirt." She disappeared only to emerge a few minutes later sans skirt and holding the top of the shorts up so that they didn't slip down. In the other hand was the skirt that Sasuke took and quickly ran down to his mom who had just finished getting the cake in.

"Sasuke." Sasuke halted at the sound of his father's voice coming from the direction of the study where he usually was working. Sasuke swallow his trepidation before shuffling his feet towards the room and the lecture that he had been dreading. Naruto had followed the boy and stood in the kitchen watching as Sasuke's shoulder drooped and a worried expression covered his face. She followed after him and listened at the door that he had shut behind him. Pressing her ear to the wood she held her breath so that she could hear better.

"I got a phone call from the school today. They said that you were late." A stern voice, in deep tones was speaking and the anger in it made Naruto really nervous for her Sasuke.

"Yes, sir."

"Why were you late?"

"I met a girl; she was hiding in the bushes because another boy had pushed her down and ripped her skirt. She didn't come out and I just couldn't leave her there." Sasuke explained with a surge of hope. Surely his father would understand.

"Nothing should stand in the way of your studies, boy, you know this. You should have just left the girl there and gone to school. Your schooling is more important than a piece of trash girl."

Naruto gasped and without thinking threw the door open and ran inside coming to a halt next to Sasuke.

"He was helping me!" she exclaimed as she drew up to her full height and squared her shoulders. "I was unhappy and he helped me! People should help each other!"

"Who is this?" the man at the desk said very aggrieved at the interruption.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto and Sasuke is my friend and my Iruka has always told me that friends help each other out!" She shouted at the man clearly incensed for being called trash.

"Quiet!" the man shouted then stood as Mikoto moved into the room to see why her husband was shouting. She saw a red faced Naruto who was nearly standing in front of her son like she was about to defend him. Naruto's jaw hardened but she kept her mouth closed.

Sasuke had never seen his dad shout before, usually his lectures were delivered with calm but stern messages that never fail to tell Sasuke just how disappointing he was, but his dad had shouted at Naruto and the girl didn't back down to his amazement.

"Uzumaki?" he asked the girl sitting back down in the chair. He studied the little chit who was glaring at him from wide blue eyes.

"Yes, dear, you remember I mentioned Uzumaki Kushina to you on several occasions. She married that Namikaze guy, Minato."

"Minato!" Sasuke's father studied the girl even more finally seeing the resemblance. "I haven't seen Minato since we graduated from school. He used to be my best friend. How is your father, girl?"

"He and my mother left and didn't come back," Naruto told him then looked back at him defiantly.

"What do you mean; he left and didn't come back? Is he dead?" Fugaku asked in irritation at the riddle the girl had just spewed.

"No, they aren't dead. They just left."

"That is ridiculous. Who is your guardian now? I would like to talk to him."

"Umino Iruka."

"Hn."

Naruto could now see where he got his grunt from because his dad sounded just like him when he did that. She nearly smiled but not quite because the man was still quite intimidating.

"I'll take you home when its time," Fugaku said in an unquestionable tone then turned away.

Sasuke knowing that the lecture was over and his dad had just dismissed them quickly pulled Naruto out of the door and back into the kitchen.

"You shouldn't have done that," he told her.

"Well, he shouldn't have called me trash. I'm not something that should just be thrown away!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hn."

"Hey! I'm not, Teme!"

"Well, then you shouldn't act like it by being so noisy all the time."

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed hurt then her fist flew out and connected with his chin solidly sending him sprawling. She turned and ran up the stairs. She would have run out the door except that his mom was fixing her skirt and she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to find the front door in this huge place. She made it to his room and into the bathroom where she closed and locked the door.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said from the other side of the door.

"Go away! I don't want to talk to someone who thinks that I'm trash!" Naruto yelled then jumped when he hammered on the door.

"Naruto, you can't stay in there."

"Then you should apo—appi—say your sorry!"

"I didn't call you trash so I don't need to say I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, you agreed with your dad!"

"I didn't."

"You said that I sh—shouldn't ac—act like it!" Naruto said then opened the door to peak out at him tear awash in her eyes showing him her misery.

Sasuke sighed knowing that those tears had won. He shrugged then held out his hand to her. She glared at him but took the hand anyway. He pulled her out of the bathroom and over to his bed where he sat down and pulled her down next to him so that he could hug her.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, I was angry and worried that my dad would yell at you some more so I said something I shouldn't have," he apologized then wiped her tears away.

She nodded but still looked dejected with her head down and her breath hitching in her chest as she tried to control her crying. Her hair was falling out of the hair bands and Sasuke tucked a couple of strands behind her ear. Then got an idea.

"Hey, would you like me to put you hair back up?" he asked.

She looked at him in surprise. The only one who did that was Iruka and only because she begged him to everyday before school, on the weekends she would just leave it in a tangled mess because it was easier than trying to brush all the knots and snarls out herself.

"O—okay," she hiccupped then shifted off the bed so that she was sitting between his feet on the floor to allow him to reach her head easier. Sasuke pulled the elastics out and picked up a comb then began working on getting the snarls out of her hair. He worked gently until it was smooth them gathered it up and parting it so that there were two halves. He combed the halves to the side then deftly put the elastics back in. Satisfied with the results he led her over to the mirror. She studied them then grinned at him making that warm feeling return.

"You're better at this than Iruka!" She hugged him tightly before letting go. "What are we going to do now?"

"Let's play go fish."

"Alright!'

They played several hands and Sasuke won every time much to Naruto's dismay.

"You're cheating," she accused after he had gathered up the cards after the last round.

"Uchiha's don't cheat," Sasuke said haughtily shuffling the cards once more.

"Naruto!" Mikoto called. "It's time for you to go home."

"Oh! Um," Naruto looked nervous as she stood. She went to the door and looked back at Sasuke. "Um…"

"Do you want me to go with you?" Sasuke asked amused at the uncertainty that was shadowing her face.

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed before taking his hand and pulling him down the stairs. In the kitchen she looked at Fugaku who was waiting for her and said, "Sasuke is coming with me. I want to show him where I live." It was said in as firm a voice as she could make having heard the tone enough times from her Iruka.

The man smiled, rolled his eyes and nodded before turning away and striding through the house with Sasuke and his impertinent friend following. Sasuke just knew that his dad was going to yell at Naruto again and he didn't want that to happen so he whispered in her ear.

"Be nice. Talk to him like you do your teacher," he advised.

Naruto nodded knowing that she was being disrespectful and ducking her head. She definitely didn't want to get on Sasuke's dad's bad side because that would probably mean that Sasuke couldn't be her friends any more.

The drive to Iruka's took very little time and Naruto was stunned most of the way since she had been ushered into the limo. Her eyes became saucers and she tried her best to see everything at once. There was a small TV with a portable DVD player hooked up to it. Fugaku opened a small fridge and pulled out couple of sodas and handed them to Naruto and Sasuke and the whole thing was large and spacious leaving Naruto speechless.

Naruto led them up the stairs to her and Iruka's apartment feeling a little trepidation as she opened the door to let them in. She knew that her apartment was in no way able to compete with there place so she wasn't sure how to feel about it. Iruka was setting the table when they entered.

"Iruka!" Naruto chimed up and ran to him for a hug which he barely had time to turn and catch the girl in his arms for a squeeze back. He looked up in surprise seeing the two people hovering in the doorway.

"Oh! Hi, I wasn't expecting Naruto to bring home visitors," he said moving him and his clingy charge to toward the two.

"This is Sasuke!' Naruto immediately took up the mantle of introducing them. She grabbed his hand and pulled him forward so that he could be greeted by Iruka who shook his other unoccupied hand.

"Very pleased to meet you, Sasuke" Iruka said shaking his hand then looked up at the man who had to be his father. "You must be Sasuke's father."

The two shook hands, "Yes, I'm Uchiha Fugaku. Naruto was telling me about her family and it turns out that Minato and I were very good friends years ago and I was wondering if I could talk to you about that?"

Iruka studied the man carefully before nodding. "Let's talk in the kitchen where we can have some privacy." The two moved away and Naruto watched in irritation. She made to follow but Sasuke grabbed her before she got too far.

"I think that you shouldn't eavesdrop," he said keeping her next to him as they waited.

"Probably a good idea!" a voice came from behind them causing them to jump.

Naruto spun around and glared up at the silver haired annoyance. "Kakashi! Don't sneak up on me!"

"Naruto, you should pay attention to your surroundings more," he said.

Sasuke studied the newcomer with an up lifted eye brow. He was casually dressed in a black turtle neck and black slacks and he wore a black cloth mask that covered the lower half of his face. He had to agree with Naruto, the man seemed really weird to him. The guys eyes closed and squinted at them in a happy look and he held up his hand.

"Yo, I am Hatake Kakashi and you are?" he addressed Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha, huh? Well, that's good. Naruto, I'm so happy that you made a friend and one that is so prestigious!" Kakashi wandered to an arm chair and sitting down he drew out a small orange novel.

"Icha Icha Paradise?" Naruto said looking at the title. "Didn't you read that last week?"

"Yes, and it's my favorite," Kakashi muttered not looking up from the book.

She threw Sasuke a look that clearly said 'see, weird.'

Sasuke nodded then turned back as Iruka and his father came back into the room.

"Oh, Kakashi you're here!" Iruka exclaimed clearly flustered by his presence and scrambling to get dinner ready.

"Sasuke, we should leave now. Naruto, it was a pleasure to meet you and you're welcome at our home any time," Fugaku said then ushered his son out the door.

Naruto felt a little lost now that Sasuke was gone she stood at the window and watched as he got into their car and drove away.

"Its okay, Naruto, you'll see him tomorrow," Kakashi comforted coming up to stand beside the small girl and placing a hand on her shoulder. She nodded but didn't feel any better about him being gone. "Well, Iruka has made spaghetti so let us go and eat."

* * *

**A/N: Well there it is in all its black and white glory! Wow, that is possibly the longest chapter that I have ever written, so far! I hope that you liked it. Please let me know by leaving a review or you can PM me, I don't mind. I love hearing from my fans and it helps to jump start that muse I was talking about earlier! But please don't flame, it hurts my feelers and I don't want to send Kakashi's ninja hounds after you. Also CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is okay (though sometimes it hurts, but I won't bite your head off for it--maybe :D--) **

**Well, I am going on vacation tomorrow and I won't be able to respond to review until Sunday. Please pray for me so that I don't get bitten by a snake, fall off a cliff, lost in a bottomless pit, or sunburnt (because I can be a complete idiot and forget the sunscreen). Oh, and I have started a new job so I probably won't be able to update as quickly as everyone is used to but I will try! Again, reviews help (hint, hint).**

**Thanks and Goodnight!**

**ZEN  
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	2. Chapter 2

**A/N New Update Yay! I'm still working on the third chapter so it may take a little while longer to update but it will be out soon. It seems that this one should be finished quickly. Thanks everyone for the reviews! They were much appreciated and I will respond to all reviews if there is a reply button if not and you want to be responded to, get an account, its free! Well, now on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I do own a small gray kitten who keeps attacking my feet and trying to crawl up my pant leg, its a good thing I'm not a man!  
**

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Naruto was waiting impatiently by that bush in the chilly air. She had woken up sooner than she normally did just to be sure that she didn't miss her opportunity to walk with Sasuke to school. She was wearing a bright orange shirt with a large blue flower on the front and pants that matched the flower. She had gotten Iruka to pull her hair back into a pony tail and braid it so that the long strands didn't get tangled and messy. She had then pulled out her favorite sandals and insisted on wearing them because she wanted to look especially nice for Sasuke. She hadn't missed the surprised look on Iruka's face, nor the small smile that he had worn. She had even noticed his head shake but had ignored him for the most part.

And now she was shifting from one leg to another, thinking that she had spent way to long letting Iruka braid her hair. She looked up the street trying to see if he was coming then back towards the school nervously twisting her little fingers in agitation. A frown puckered her little forehead as another thought entered into her head. What if he had decided that she was too annoying or he had figured out why someone had thrown her away and didn't want to be her friend anymore.

That thought was her undoing and she dropped to the ground pulling her knees up to her chest and shoving her face into her knees to hold back the sobs that were threatening to break from her heaving chest. Shaking too much and crying she didn't hear the engine as a car pulled over nor did she hear the door open. It wasn't until a hand settled on her shoulder that she looked up through eyes wet with unshed tears into dark ones that looked back at her in concern.

"Sasuke!" she shouted before jumping to her feet and wrapping her little arms around his shoulders and burying her face into the crook of his neck. Her little voice mumbling things that he couldn't understand and he hugged her tightly rubbing her trembling back to comfort his little friend.

"Naruto! What's wrong? Did Kiba push you down again?" he asked a little frightened at the amount of sadness that was pouring out of her.

She shook her head then pulled away looking a little sheepish as she hiccupped and tried to calm down.

"Then what happened?" He took her hand and pulled her to the car. He wanted to get to school because his mom was going to try to transfer his class so that he could be with Naruto. He'd spent most of last night begging to be put in Naruto's class so that he could protect her and his mom had finally agreed to try.

Naruto gulped and shook her head feeling embarrassed for having doubted him. She didn't want to hurt his feelings so she remained silent. Sasuke seeing her stubbornness put his hand on his hips like his father did when he knew that Sasuke had misbehaved and raised his chin. Naruto caved at the look and turned red before answering.

"I didn't think you wanted to be my friend anymore," she whispered as he stepped back and allowed her to clamber into the car first then followed to sit next to him. His mom looked over the seat with concern as she noticed that Naruto had been crying.

"Are you alright, Naruto," she asked.

"She's being an ur—usuratonkachi," Sasuke mumbled.

"Sasuke! Don't be rude!" Mikoto reprimanded.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto exclaimed at the same time.

"Tch."

Sasuke pulled her closer and looked into the still wet blue eyes studying the lacy patterns. "You are my friend and that isn't going to change."

Naruto grinned up at him as she wrinkled her nose. "Good," she said, "because today I'm going to show you my special place." She sat back for the rest of the ride tucking her tote closer to her hip and Sasuke's arm stayed around her shoulders. The eight year olds content with the other, one happy to still have a friend and the other satisfied that no one had tried to hurt her again.

愛愛愛愛

Naruto pulled him down a long, dirt path and through a virtual forest of tree to reach an old abandoned shack. The graying wood proclaimed its age and is leaned offensively to one side in clear neglect but Naruto didn't even hesitate before swinging the door open. Sasuke was a little more cautious but followed her into the dim interior pausing at the threshold and looking around the shack.

A moldy set of hay bales were stacked in one corner and let him know that this used to be a barn of some type. Several stales were marked by the slats of wood that separated them and there were several horse shoes hammered into one wall. Sasuke stepped lightly on to the wooden floorboards thinking that he needed to get Naruto out of there as quickly as possible because the building was going to collapse in the next strong gust of wind.

Naruto skipped over to the stack of hay ignoring the danger to her and the boy she had brought along with her. She dropped to the ground and reached in between the bales to pull out a fluffy gray kitten. Turning with her prize she frowned when she saw that Sasuke hadn't followed her.

"Look," she said softly then stood and walked slowly back to him. She deposited the kitten into his hands then went back for more.

The dark gray eyes looked up into his and the small pink mouth opened wide as it yawned then shifted slightly to rear back so it could get a good look at the boy that was holding it. The tiny white paws tensed and needle sharp claws gripped his hand as if to tell the boy that it clearly didn't trust him to not drop it. After several long minutes of staring at each other the kitten suddenly shot forward to latch its teeth into Sasuke's thumb.

"Hn." Sasuke had never had a pet before and the tiny kitten was puzzlement to him. Was he supposed to jerk his hand away from the teeth that were now gnawing at his flesh or was he supposed to put it down…

He looked back up to see that Naruto now had two more little fluff balls in her lap and was cooing at them while they tumbled about in there intention to either maim each other or eat each other. When the little orange tabby was swatted a bit more harshly than it had been previously, and let out a small mew of protest, the kitten that he had been holding looked up then began to struggle in his hands so Sasuke bent over and let it go. The furry creature stumble-ran over to Naruto then inspected his littermate for any signs of injury before licking the top of its head to sooth it. Meanwhile the other kitten, a silver tabby had received a glare which it ignored and tumbled over Naruto's leg to explore another area of the building. A black and white adult cat had jumped up onto the top bale and lay on her stomach watching the little kittens below to make sure that her babies didn't get into too much trouble or hurt.

Sasuke made his way over to Naruto and sat down next to her and gazed in fascination as she scratched the little orange ball just behind the ear and it leaned into her touch while its eyes shut and it began to doze while its companion snuggled up next to it. The little silver kitten came back and sniffed at the orange ball before trying to munch on its ear as it climbed over them both its little head pillowed on top of the gray kitten while the rest of its small body draped over the orange ones back.

"I don't think that he liked me very well," Sasuke said as he reached over and following Naruto lead rubbed the gray kitten's ears.

"He likes you a lot," Naruto reassured.

"How do you know?"

"Because he played with you and let you hold him."

"That doesn't say anything."

"He always struggled for me to put him down and doesn't tolerate being cuddle like the other two do, but he was playing with you and biting your thumb. He was telling you that he liked you."

"Hn."

Naruto smiled at him then leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder. In a few more minutes her eyes drooped close and she fell asleep. Sasuke shifted enough to put an arm around her and pull her closer so that he was in a more comfortable position and let her sleep. Her hair was beginning to come out of her braid and he buried his nose into the silky strands smelling the faint hint of apples and strawberries. He reached up and drew a strand into his fingers to feel the texture playing with the lock, winding it around his fingers and letting it sift between his fingers to tickle him. Her hair was unbelievably soft to the touch.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that but the next thing he knew was it was beginning to get dark and he knew he needed to get home. He could hear the distance shouting of voices and knew that it was latter than he had thought.

Iruka came through the door first followed by his mother and father then Kakashi. Sasuke grimaced at the disappointment in his father's eyes and looked down at the floor waiting for the yelling to begin, but the man said nothing as he looked at the top of his sons head. Iruka carefully shook Naruto awake and pulled her into his arms as she draped over his shoulder bonelessly because she hadn't woken up fully but when he went to stand he was nearly jerked off balance because Naruto had sudden latched onto Sasuke's hand and Sasuke hers.

"Naruto, let go," Iruka urged as he gently shook her to get her to comply but she shook her head.

"No, Sasuke's mine and he should come with me," she muttered continuing to hold on to him for dear life.

"This is ridiculous," Fugaku said moving forward and taking both of their hands to try and pry her grip loose. Naruto began to whimper as he applied pressure in order to get her to release his son.

"Fugaku," Kakashi murmured coming to stand next to the man. "Let go or you are going to upset Iruka." His voice was quiet but firm and the older man obeyed instantly. Naruto wiggled in Iruka's hold and he lost his grip on her. She quickly lost no time in wrapping her arms around Sasuke's neck and burying her head into his shoulder. Sasuke returned the gesture and looked up at his mom a little helplessly because he didn't want to let her go either.

Mikoto took her husbands hand gently in his as he glared down at his disobedient son and pulled him away. She leaned closer and whispered into his ear receiving a surprised look and a nod from him. She smiled before moving to kneel in front of her son and touching Naruto on the back.

"Naruto, dear, would you like to spend the night at our house?" She asked looking up at Iruka to receive permission. He looked a little lost but then smiled back and nodded allowing Kakashi to pull him away. "I know that you had a little scare this morning thinking that you had lost your new friend but you now know that it isn't true. But you still don't want to let him go quite yet, so I thought that perhaps you would like to stay with us just for tonight so that you will feel better." She was gently explaining what had happened this morning and how Naruto was feeling, while reassuring Naruto that she wouldn't have to be separated from him just yet.

Naruto peaked around at Sasuke mom wondering if it was a trick of some kind to get her to let him go. Her fingers gripped his shirt tightly to make it more difficult to separate them. Her blue eyes search her dark brown ones for any sign of a lie but she nodded any way.

Sasuke pulled Naruto arms from around him, feeling a little embarrassed at the show of affection the girl had already developed for him. He couldn't help but be a little prideful also because he knew that Naruto didn't trust easily and she had instantly bonded with him. He took her hand and laced their fingers together while Naruto looked up at her Iruka.

"Is it okay, Iruka?" she asked for confirmation. Iruka nodded and smiled down at her lovingly. Naruto wasn't hard to love if people gave her half a chance. Sure she was hyper and had a short attention span but she didn't have a mean bone in her body. She had been seeking acceptance from everyone and he hadn't been able to deny her when she looked up at him with those large, innocent eyes.

He had barely been eighteen when Minato and Kushina had disappeared leaving Naruto in his care. Her grandfather, Jiraiya, sent money but he wasn't an appropriate guardian for the little girl since he wandered everywhere doing research for his graphic novels. The state had approached him with every intention to take Naruto and place her in a foster home but somehow he had convinced them to leave the girl with him and that he was fully capable of raising one little girl. They were skeptical at first keeping a strict eye on him and the daily check ups had become weekly ones, then monthly until they had eventually ceased altogether.

Naruto had been a challenge from the get go and was still a challenge if tonight was anything to go by. The girl had formed a bond with the Uchiha boy and him, her. Iruka knew Naruto's imagination and knew that she had thought the worst; that the boy had abandoned her like everyone else and that had scared her deeply. His heart ached for her because everyone had abandoned her at one point, and that had made her very insecure in her own belief in herself. She didn't think she was worthy of love and affection and their were times when she doubted her Iruka's devotion even though he had been with her through out some of her more…adventuresome…exploits.

He shuddered at just the thought of some of them. Like the time she had climbed the stone statues that were carved into the mountain that over looked the town, it had taken the fire department and a helicopter rescue in order to get her down even though she protested the whole time that she could have done it on her own but she just wasn't ready to come down. Or the time she had taken a bucket full of paint and painted several of their neighbor's dogs a pretty yellow because they didn't look happy enough until they were painted. Iruka had to pay for each and every dog (there had been about thirteen) to have the paint groomed out of them and a few of the people swear that their dogs still look yellow even after several months.

Iruka watched as Sasuke lead her back up the path with the rest following. Kakashi was smiling wickedly behind his mask, don't ask how Iruka knew but he did because he'd known the man for several years. He knew exactly what the silver haired man was planning as soon as they got back to the apartment because it had been a long time since they'd had any private time.

Naruto still wasn't going to relinquish her hold on the boy and clambered into the car holding onto some part of him which caused the boy to sigh as he allowed her to hang onto him. He quickly entered the car also and she snuggled into his side then leaned around him to wave to her guardian and Kakashi as Fugaku started the car and Mikoto closed the door behind her two charges then opened her own door to get in.

Kakashi draped an arm around Iruka as he watched the car drive away with Naruto knowing that the man felt a little lost. Naruto had always been around ever since the Iruka claimed custody of the girl. Hugging the man to him to reassure him, Kakashi pulled him towards his car because he had plans to make Iruka not worry so much.

"Come on, my little dolphin," he called after him. "Naruto will be perfectly fine at the Uchiha's and you'll see her tomorrow and know that you worried for nothing.'

愛愛愛愛

Naruto was wearing another pair of shorts that didn't fit Sasuke anymore as well as one of his t-shirts. They'd had a small dinner with his family and had been ushered up stairs to get ready for bed. Naruto had pulled the little hair ties from her hair and was currently trying to pull a comb through the unruly strands much to her consternation. She was only succeeding at getting the mess more and more tangled. Sasuke was sitting on the edge of his bed watching the girl with bemusement. Twice now he'd known that his dad was going to be so angry at him and twice the man had been thwarted by the little blond cherub who had stood next to him and refused to leave.

He saw Naruto tug the comb on a particularly tight snarl and wince; he decided that she was going to pull the hair out of her head if she continued to yank at the soft fuzz. He got up and took the comb from her then patiently began to untangle the mass beginning at the ends in the same way he had seen Itachi, his older brother, combing his hair. Naruto sighed and relax letting him take care of the stuff. Sasuke found that the hair was even softer than he had thought and rubbed it between his fingers then letting the strands sift through his fingers much as he had while they had been in the barn.

Naruto huffed out a small breath as she felt Sasuke run his fingers through her hair, his fingers finding her scalp and brushing over it soothingly. She shivered a little at the touch unable to put a name to how she was feeling. It was warm and made her heart beat pick up, but at the same time she wanted to run away and lean closer.

"Hey, didn't your mom say that she was going to find a sleeping bag for me?" Naruto asked to distract herself from the confusing feelings.

"Yeah, I wonder if she found one," Sasuke commented absently letting his hands drop from Naruto's head.

"Well, let's go find out," she said jumping to her feet and skipping out of the door.

She barreled straight into a pair of long legs and would have landed on her behind had couple of strong hands not grabbed her to prevent the indignity. Startled she looked up, up and up into a pair of eyes that were nearly identical to Sasuke's. The face was more mature but thin and tired looking as the guy looked down at her. She blinked but remained frozen as the guy crouched down in front of her until they were at eye level.

"Hi, you must be Sasuke's new friend," he smiled gently at her but he hadn't let her go yet.

Naruto nodded but couldn't say anything, her mouth had run dry at she stared at the man in front of her.

"I'm Itachi, it a pleasure to have you run into me," he laughed slightly then released her arms only to reach up and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

Naruto blushed and dropped her eyes to stare at her hands. A slow smile curved her lips as she watched the man stand back up from under her lashes.

Sasuke frowned at the actions of his brother and Naruto who had turned into a tomato when Itachi had touched her. He felt an unknown sensation of anger and something darker pierce his chest as he stepped up next to Naruto. He glared at his brother and became more irritated as Itachi smiled knowingly at him before shrugging and holding a hand out to Naruto.

Naruto placed her tiny hand in his letting Itachi's larger one engulf hers. "It's really nice to meet you, Naruto." I hope to see you again but I've only come home to get a few things then I have to leave again."

Itachi let her go then turned as sauntered down the hallway to disappear into another room. Sasuke pulled Naruto down the stairs and through the house to find his mother and to get her away from Itachi. Mikoto was hip deep in a closet as she looked for a sleeping bag.

"Mom!" Sasuke called as they approached.

"Oh, Sasuke, dear, I can't seem to find a sleeping bag," she said then crawled out of the closet backwards looking disheveled.

"That's okay, Mom, I don't mind sharing my bed with Naruto," he said.

"I suppose it will be alright just for tonight," Mikoto replied looking back and forth at the two innocent children. She sighed as Sasuke claimed Naruto's hand and pulled her back the way they came. She was happy that Sasuke had found a friend that he didn't mind sharing the same space with. She knew that he had other children that he called friends but he had never invited one home and she had worried about her son's social skills. Part of being a mother was being able to get to know the kids her sons hung out with and mothering them to a degree and she had missed that with both of her sons.

Itachi hadn't been very social while growing up and he never invited his friends over preferring to follow them to their houses and as he grew older he spent less and less time with his family. Even tonight he had just come home to grab some clothes and then he would be gone again. She sighed and worried but knew that she couldn't do anything about it because she had decided not to interfere with the choices of her children unless they made a deadly mistake or got involved in things that were against the law. So far Itachi hadn't broken the law, nor was he involved with drugs, and he hadn't done anything that could harm himself or someone else. He hung out with friends just not at his house and Mikoto could live with that.

Sasuke quickly pulled Naruto back to his room slamming the door behind him happy that they hadn't run into Itachi again.

Naruto hadn't said anything since the confrontation and looked up at Sasuke as he growled lowly in his throat.

"Is something wrong?" she asked now confused with the anger that seemed to be coming off Sasuke.

"Stay away from Itachi," he muttered then pulled her over to the TV turning the machine on and handing her one of the gaming remotes. The game was a battle simulation and he enjoyed hacking Naruto's player to bits until the girl got the hang of the game and began giving him a bit more of a challenge. They played for a while as Sasuke relaxed with Naruto winning more and more of the battles. Eventually, Sasuke calmed down enough for them to go to bed. Naruto slipped under the covers first then Sasuke followed tucking her little body against his and falling into a deep slumber.

愛愛愛愛

A sharp slice of sunlight spiked across his face and waking him in the most annoying fashion. He rolled over to find the nice little oven that he had been snuggled to most of the night and cracked open his eyes when he didn't find it. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from them he looked around wondering where Naruto had disappeared to. The clothes that she'd worn last night were folded neatly on the corner of his bed.

He frowned and threw back the covers, padded across the room, and opened the door listening for any sounds coming from the other parts of the house. He heard a little giggle and then nothing for the longest time. He quickly made his way through the house and down to the kitchen as he approached the voice got louder and a little bit of dread filtered into his stomach.

He passed through the doorway and came to a stand still when he saw Itachi leaning over Naruto and showing her how to draw a kitten. Naruto's brow was furrowed in concentration and didn't seem to notice that Itachi was playing with some of the tangled strands of hair as she tried to get her little hand to duplicate the lines from Itachi's drawing. Itachi leaned in low and whispered instructions in her ear.

Sasuke fought to control the anger that suddenly surged up inside of him along with a need to hurt Itachi, to make him look stupid in Naruto's eyes. He crossed the room in an instant and pushed Itachi away from Naruto to stand in the place Itachi had been occupying and glaring up at him with hands clenched into tight fists at his side.

"Sasuke, you're finally up," Itachi commented with a smirk at his enraged little brother. "Mom and Dad had to go out for a while and since you weren't up, Mom asked me to entertain Naruto." His eyes were half lidded in amusement.

"Don't touch her," he growled before he turned to the girl who was looking at him uncertainly. He took the pencil from her, dropped it onto the table, and then pulled her out of the kitchen and back to his room. He slammed the door and spun to face her.

"Sa—Sasuke? What's wrong?" she asked hesitantly feeling a little fear climb into her belly.

"Don't let Itachi near you," he said in a low angry voice. "You're my friend and if you like Itachi more than me then we can't be friends."

Naruto didn't know what she had done wrong to cause Sasuke to be mad at her and she couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes at his words. The droplets felt unchecked as she stared at Sasuke trying to think of why he didn't want her to be friends with his brother and what provoked the ultimatum.

"No, Sasuke I don't like him more than you," she cried as she ran to him and hugged him tight needing to reassure him. "I want to be your friend, please…please, don't hate me!" She was nearly wailing in hysterics as she clasped her arms tighter. He didn't respond right away and that scared Naruto the most so she let him go and stepped back. She didn't look up at him as she pulled away and her hands were twisting about themselves as she cried. "I'll...need to…call, 'ruka…" she hiccupped as she turned from him.

He didn't understand why he was so mad at Itachi and Naruto or why he'd even told her that. The anger was slowly leaving him as he looked down at Naruto's drooping shoulders and the top of her head because she wouldn't look at him. The guilt that he was starting to feel made him feel even worse. He clenched his teeth together not wanting to take the words back because he didn't like feeling like he had been wrong but…

"Naruto!" Unable to take her tears he caught her arm and turned her to him hugging her tightly. It was the first time he had initiated a hug but her arms crept around his back as he held her and she cried into his shoulder unable to stop. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean it. I don't know why I said it and I'm sorry. I'll always be your friend!" He nodded for emphasis.

Naruto tipped her head up and looked at him. "Do you mean it? Your not going to change your mind are you?" The hope that shone through the tears made Sasuke smile.

"I do mean it and, no, I won't change my mind," he told her.

愛愛愛愛

An hour later they were sitting Indian style across from each other out on the back deck playing a game of go-fish. Sasuke had a pile of cards in front of him winning steadily as Naruto pouted and studying the few cards that she had left trying to decide which ones he might have. She looked up an eyed his with such an innocently sneaky expression that made Sasuke grin.

"Do you have any…Jacks?"

"No, go fish," he replied calmly.

"It's not fair! You're cheating somehow!" she shouted before taking the card offered and grimacing.

"Do you have any threes?"

Naruto grimaced and handed over the card she had just drawn along with another. She narrowed her eyes cutely then huffed as she waited for him to set down the cards then decide what he wanted to ask for next. He rarely played games like these thinking that they were just too simple but Naruto had talked him into it. He tugged on the ends of his bangs then chose one of the remaining cards.

"Do you have any sevens?"

"Ha! GO…here." Naruto muttered under her breath about Sasuke being a cheating psychic because he seemed to know what was in her hand.

Sasuke just hadn't told her yet that when she wasn't paying attention to her cards they fell forward giving him a clear view of what she held. He rolled his eyes as the cards slipped a little bit once again showing him that she was now holding a pair of kings.

But he didn't have a king in his hand so he chose another.

"Do you have a six?"

"No, GO FISH!" Naruto yelled then did a little happy dance wiggling her hips and shoulders before giggling at her cards.

"Do you have a king?"

Sasuke handed over the king that he had just picked up from the pile. She set it down and raised her fist into the air in triumph.

"I win!"

Sasuke blinked. "No you didn't," he argued.

"I did so. I got rid of all my cards first."

"No, it's who ever has the most matches, wins."

"Says who?" Naruto was now standing and put her hand of her hips as she leaned forward.

"Says the rules." Sasuke stood also.

"You show me these rules! I bet you can't." She was nearly nose to nose with him glaring up at him.

"I can't show you the rules because I don't have them but everyone knows that the person who has the most matches wins!"

"Nuh-huh! It's whoever runs out of cards first!"

"Is too."

"Is not!"

"To."

"Not!"

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

Naruto screamed out a low growl then launched herself at Sasuke grabbing his hair then throwing her little fist into his face. Sasuke stumbled back but didn't stand still for long before grabbing Naruto and trying to subdue the now wiggling, squirming, mass of angry girl. They tumbled to the ground as Sasuke tried not to get hit and Naruto punched and even bit him.

The little girl was suddenly pulled off of him and was held several inches off the ground struggling to get back to proving that she was right physically. Iruka looked down at the boy who was now sitting up staring at Naruto with a bloody nose and holding a hand to his left shoulder where she had bitten him.

"Naruto!" Iruka yelled at the snarling bundle that he held.

Naruto slowly calmed down still hanging by the back of her pants from her Iruka's firm grip. She blinked down at Sasuke as he warily looked back then just as suddenly as she attacked him she began to wail.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke!" She was now struggling again and Iruka lost his hold. She ran over to him and pulled him up petting him. "I'm sorry!" Large blue eyes were looking up at him in distress, magnified by the tears that were beginning to fall. "Sasuke! Please forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you!" She took his hand and petted it as if to make up for hitting him and biting him.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Iruka said coming over to pull Naruto away from him but Sasuke gathered her into a hug before the older man could take her away.

Naruto hiccupped. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, you can win I don't mind."

"Its okay, Naruto, I'm fine, I forgive you." He said trying to calm the girl down as he awkwardly held her. He looked around and saw his mother looking back at him worriedly but he nodded at her to reassure her that he wasn't hurt. He was just more startled at the abruptness of the attack than being physically injured.

"Naruto, we have to go now," Iruka said firmly but with a sigh in his voice. Naruto had an instant temper but it burned out just a quickly leaving the girl devastated when she caused someone pain. He'd seen it a few times and had ended up consoling the girl more than lecturing her about letting her temper have free reign. And apparently Sasuke was falling into the trap just as easily as he had. He rubbed his hand over his face trying not to snicker at the confused, lost look that the boy was wearing as he clung to the sobbing girl who really was sorry for hurting her friend.

Naruto pulled away and continued to hiccup as Iruka lead her back through the house to the front door with Mikoto and Sasuke following. She waved forlornly as Iruka buckled her into the seat before moving around to the driver's side and getting in. Sasuke ran up to the cracked window and pressed a hand to it.

"I'll see you at the bush Monday," he said. And felt deeply satisfied when Naruto's eyes brightened and her beautiful smile was back.

"Okay!"

Sasuke stepped back and allowed Iruka to pull out of the driveway and into the street.

"Did you have fun?" Iruka asked looking back at her in the rear view mirror.

"Yep! We played fish, and his older brother, Itachi, showed me how to draw a kitten and he brushed my hair and we played…" she went on about everything that she had done. Iruka just smiled and let her talk knowing that she would burn herself out soon.

"Iruka, Naruto," Kakashi was standing at the curb when they pulled up and Naruto wrinkled her nose at the man. He opened her door to let her out with a smug smile. "Did you have fun, Naruto?"

"Yes," she said shortly then looked at Iruka who had turned into a tomato. "Why is he here again?"

"Naruto, be polite," Iruka reprimanded as he took her hand and lead her up to their apartment. Kakashi following behind watching Iruka's tight ass with a speculative eye.

"Hey, do you think, Mikoto would let Naruto stay over next weekend?" Kakashi asked, getting an approving look from Naruto along with an excited smile. Iruka's blush deepened but he remained silent but threw an irritated glance over his shoulder.

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**A/N**: Well, how was it? I hope that you leave a review. I've left a few ends open and will try to address it in the future. For those of you who asked I hope that you noticed that they now have an age. Please leave a review and I will try to have the next update out by friday or sooner. Oh, I will warn you now that there will be time skips so if I don't post it before hand just be aware of that fact.

I had a wonderful time on my vacation. Except that now, my legs hurt like the devil. I went hiking up this trail and I swear that it was up hill both ways and 2.6 miles up hill, climbing over rocks, and boulders just to get to see a pool of water may not seem like a long ways but OW, Ow, Ow! It Was, especially in ninety plus degrees. ARGH, I have to excersize more if I'm going to do that again any time soon.

Okay! leave a review, and if you have to criticize please be specific because I can't go back and fix things if I don't know what to fix. I did re-read through this but I apologize if I missed anything.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Check it out people! I got my first flame. Heh, told me to jump off a bridge and delete this story. Good Luck, Dupel from Latvia. I am dedicating this chapter to you. To Sam, and everyone Thanks So Much for your encouraging reviews. I hope that you like this next chapter as much as you did the last ones. P.S. since I decided to thwart my flamer, I have submitted this chapter early and so didn't have time to thoroughly proofread so any grammer or spelling mistakes can be laid at Dupel's door.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own some seriously stiff muscles, ouch.**

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An irritating beam of light had somehow made it through the crack in the curtains to annoy a bright blond. The slender stream sliced across an eye causing a wince in the once peaceful features. The tousled head turned away only to have the light cut across the other further pulling the teen from sleep.

"Naruto!" a shout sounded from the other side of the closed door caused glazed eyes to open then blink closed. The nearly silent click of the door signaled that Iruka had poked his head through the portal. "You are going to be…" Iruka frowned seeing the flushed cheeks and red ears that appeared around the orange quilt's edge. Naruto blinked at Iruka from under the carroty fabric.

"'Ruka? I don't feel good," she whined and whimpered as she tried to swallow. Her voice soundly like the croak of a toad on a bad day and her eyes shone with the hazy light of a fever.

Iruka hurried to the bed and laid a cool soothing hand on her brow feeling the heat that was coming off of the girl. He quickly ran from the room only to return a few minutes later with a thermometer which he stuck under her tongue ignoring the grimace as he poked her. He waited impatiently for a few minutes, his foot tapping out the seconds, then he pulled the glass from her lips and looked it over. He glanced at her worriedly seeing the high degree that registered on the instrument.

"I'm calling Tsunade for an appointment," he muttered then rushed out only to appear again with a glass of water and two Ibuprofen to bring the fever down and to help with the pain. He watched as Naruto tried to swallow the pills wincing and gagging on them the first time and getting them down on the second with a small noise at the pain.

Kakashi appeared in the doorway to see why Iruka was so concerned; he frowned seeing the sick girl falling back on the bed. Her eyes closed only to open again.

"I've got to meet Sa…" she began pushing the covers of the bed back.

"No, you will stay right where you are, young lady," Iruka demanded pushing Naruto back down on the bed and pulling the covers back over her.

"I'll call let Sasuke know that you aren't going to be at school today," Kakashi volunteered pushing a hand through his gravity defying silver hair making it look even more spiky than before. He turned and left to go attend to delivering the message to the Uchiha.

Naruto watched him go feeling heavy and cold. Kakashi had moved in nearly two years ago making his and Iruka's relationship official. Naruto had spent several days protesting the move but Iruka had sat her down and explained to her that he loved Kakashi. That even though he was moving in it didn't change how he felt about Naruto and he would spend just as much time with her as he always had. Naruto had decided to trust in Iruka's judgment and hadn't said anything further about Kakashi since her fear was that Iruka would want to be with Kakashi more and Naruto would be shuffled aside.

Since the move Naruto came to accept the man seeing Iruka was much happier now that he was able to come home to Kakashi and that made all the difference in the world to Naruto. As long as Kakashi kept Iruka happy then Naruto would accept him into their lives and not dump a wasp hive onto his head while he was in the shower. And she knew just where to get one too.

Her throat burned like a thousand needles were trying to puncture through it and she tried not to swallow much because it was just plain torture. She blinked up at a blurry Iruka trying to focus fever bright eyes on the man as he plumped the pillows and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'll bring you a cool glass of orange juice and some miso broth in a few minutes, just as soon as I call work to let them know that I won't be in and the school. Oh, and Tsunade," he kept muttering under his breath as he left the room.

Naruto couldn't keep awake any longer and fell back into slumber…

The next time she roused herself was to feel a cool hand taking hers and she opened her eyes to see Sasuke sitting by her bed holding her hand. She tried smiling at him but winced as she reflexively swallowed then felt her head explode in a white light. The cool hand came to her brow and she pressed into it only to have it drawn back.

"Dobe, you're burning up," Sasuke said as he frowned down at her.

"Teme," was all that Naruto could force out and it sounded like an unintelligible croak but Sasuke understood what she said and smiled.

"I'm going to go get some painkillers from Iruka, alright?"

Naruto nodded or tried to but the light came back as soon as her head moved a small degree. She watched Sasuke as he left and closed her eyes to drift in and out of consciousness until the cool hand came back to caress her cheek, thumb feathering across the lines.

"Here, Naruto," Sasuke murmured in her ear helping her to sit up and holding the pills to her mouth. Naruto shook her head.

"Can't…hurts…" she tried to push his hand away only to drop it half way because it took too much on an effort and she just wasn't up to fighting him. She heard Sasuke sigh then shift her back onto the bed.

"Alright, I'm going to go smash these up and dissolve them in water and you will drink it," he tone was as stern as his fathers which meant that Naruto had no choice but to do what he said. Then he was gone.

Naruto would have made a face at him if she could have kept her eyes open for another minute. She whimpered at the dream that she was stuck in. Several large glass mirrors surrounded her trapping her in the frigid air while a boy appeared in one only to disappear and reappear in another one and with each move a needle was stabbed deep into her throat. Naruto clutched at her throat knowing that the next toss would be the end of her. She felt Sasuke behind her and turned to tell him to run only to gag as ice cold water was poured into her throat making the needles sink further in. She swallowed because Sasuke's voice was encouraging her to drink telling her that she was a good girl. But once the water was gone so was Sasuke and the dream continued only this time she was on a bridge and the boy was lying in front of her with a hole burned through his chest. The pain in her throat didn't go way but at least another needle wasn't being added. She looked up to see Kakashi standing on the other side of the boy looking at her with cold clear eyes.

"He protected his friend," it began to snow which caused an unusual phenomenon as the air around them warmed slightly. "He was pure as the snow."

Naruto wanted to ask who the boy was but didn't get a chance as she felt someone shaking her, pulling her away from the dream.

"Naruto! Come on, its time for your appointment!" Iruka was saying as Naruto's eyes fluttered open once again. She was pulled upright and then swung up into strong arms as Iruka carried her wrapped in a blanket through the apartment and out the door.

"Where's Sasuke," she mumbled looking over his shoulder at the apartment's door that they had just left.

"He had to go back to school, he came at lunch break to make sure that you were really sick," Iruka explain, "and not just faking it because you had a big Geography test today."

"Hn." Naruto grunted using Sasuke's favorite phrase then tucking her head down against Iruka chest not minding that he was carrying her. They hadn't been this close since Naruto had freaked out about getting her period and thought she was dying. Poor Iruka had to explain to her about her body physically changing. He had done such a bad job of it that she'd really freaked out thinking that she was to turn into a Salmon. He'd eventually taken her to see Tsunade who had to re-explain while he sat in the waiting room imitating a tomato. He'd taken her out for ice cream and once back at the apartment they had settled down onto the couch to watch some girly movies and eaten popcorn with Naruto tucked against his side with her head pillowed against his shoulder. Kakashi had found them later that night sleeping like that and thought that it was just the cutest thing making such a fuss that Naruto had gone to bed red faced and refused to talk to the man for the next three days.

Iruka settled her into the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt for her before jogging around the car and getting in himself. The look of fear on his face made her want to apologize but she knew that it would only make him worry more about her so she leaned her head to the side to touch the cool window sighing at the relief that if gave to her boiling head. She closed her eyes allowing Iruka to take her to see the doctor because she didn't like feeling so weak and hurt. Any other time and she would probably be back in the apartment holding onto something for dear life while Iruka pulled at her to get her into the car.

The simple fact that she wasn't fighting Iruka was a huge cause to worry in Iruka's opinion. She was pale except for the dark red splotches on her cheeks and the cherry red tips of her ears as they peaked out from behind sunny curls. Her whole body radiated heat which he could swear that he felt from where he was sitting in the driver's seat. Her eyes were again closed and fluttered in sleeps producing the urgent need for Iruka to get to Tsunade's medical practice as soon as possible. He pushed harder on the gas pedal forcing the old beater to go faster as he navigated the streets.

愛愛愛愛

"Well, Iruka, Naruto had tonsillitis. So we will need to schedule a surgery for tomorrow. We'll keep her over night and get her in early in the morning, if that's alright with you?" Tsunade said as she finished looking Naruto over. Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of surgery and she began to shake her head. "I'm sorry, Naruto, I know that you don't like hospitals but in your case there isn't another option."

"That's fine," Iruka broke in knowing that the girl would continue to protest so he needed to cut her off before she went into full blown lawyer mode. Naruto opened her mouth to protest only to grimace and go a little limp as her throat seconded a motion that she not speak. She instead settled for looking mutinous and shaking her head which did little good because they could ignore that and they did.

Naruto was settled into a small room, feeling a little better because of the high does of fever reducer and pain killer that Tsunade had given her. She was sitting in the bed with the covers pulled up to her chest and an extra fleece blanket that Iruka had brought covering her. She was watching the TV where a stupid program about bomb shelters being built during WWI had been a key roll in winning the war. She was holding a cup of ice chips which she popped one into her mouth allowing the solid object to melt on her tongue before tentatively swallowing the cold liquid to sooth her throat.

The door opened and Sasuke poked his head around the door.

Naruto smiled widely as she waved her hand excitedly to motion him into the room. She was relieved to see him that the lingering pain seemed to vanish and she scooted over to allow him to sit next to her. She noticed the worry in his expression, not that he would ever say anything about it because it would be beneath him to worry. She reached up to smooth a lock of hair out of his eyes and to lightly touch the frown lines between his eyebrows.

"I'll be fine," she whispered, trying not to hurt her throat any more than necessary.

"I know," Sasuke said as his hand found hers. He still remembered the pale lethargic Naruto from earlier and the way she had been had left him feeling helpless. The feeling was not something he wanted to feel ever again and was even more determined to protect her. She didn't get sick, ever. She'd never had a cold, the flu, or even a headache, and just seeing her like that made him anxious.

Having Sasuke here was more reassuring to Naruto than anything, but now that he was here the fear of being in the hospital began to creep in also. People died in the hospital all the time and she didn't want to die. They were going to put her to sleep to do the surgery, cut something out of her throat, and she didn't know what else left a deep panic inside of her and she showed that to him.

"Sasuke, I'm scared," Naruto whispered feeling her throat close up which caused more pain but she couldn't help it and she whimpered, tears forming in her eyes. She blinked them back because she hated to cry in front of people but they just kept coming regardless of her wants.

Sasuke gathered her into his arms and pulled her onto his lap like he had at other times when Naruto had been scared, hurt, or in need of comfort. It was second nature after nearly four years.

They both looked up when the door opened again and Kiba, along with ten other people filed into the room. Naruto blinked in surprise seeing the friends that she had finally made with Sasuke stand by her side. Kiba grinned seeing the two best friends like that only to grimace and hunch over when Neji elbowed him in the stomach.

"What…" she began only to come to a halt as her throat closed seeing the flowers and balloons that each carried. Her eyes widened at the colorful display.

"We wanted to come and wish you luck," Ino said stepping forward and setting her vase of daffodils on the side table then smiling gently at Naruto who was looking more dazed than ever.

"Yeah," Sakura said. "Sasuke told us that you were really sick, but we didn't find out that you had tonsillitis until we stopped by your apartment and a silver haired man told us that you were in the hospital and wouldn't be home for a couple of days."

"Kakashi," Sasuke said with a shake of his head watching the pink haired girl tie a bright orange Mylar balloon to Ino's vase that proclaimed 'Get Well Soon'.

"He is kind of weird," Tenten said placing her gift next to Ino's. It was a fluffy gray, stuffed kitten with another Mylar balloon, blue this time, tied around its neck. Neji stepped up with a green frog in his hand to join the rest of the gifts.

"He kept pinching your Iruka's butt," Neji muttered shaking his head at the indignity of it. Naruto grinned at him.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he deposited his little fern in the window sill. "You need to hurry and get better because it's boring at school and I don't have you to distract me and keep me awake. I swear if Asuma-sensei smacks me on the head one more time I'm going to have brain damage." Naruto would have laughed if it wasn't for the pain it would have caused.

"Hey, just think that you can have all the ice cream that you want until you get better," Chouji exclaimed at the thought his eyes loosing focus. He recovered quickly and dropped a large candy bar next to the fern. "This is for when you're better."

"Thanks," Naruto whispered.

"D-don't t-t-talk," Hinata stuttered before coming forward and holding out a small, pale lavender, glass pot. "Th-this is an a-ar-aromatic that's s-s-supposed to h-help s-s-sooth your th-throat." Naruto reached forward and grabbed it, giving the dark head a gentle smile of thanks. Hinata turned pink then ducked back behind her cousin, poking her fingers together.

"So, fox-face, are you scared?" Kiba said as he set a small, white figurine on the table. It looked almost exactly like his dog, Akamaru.

Naruto threw him a look that said 'dog-breath,' before she shook her head, refusing to let him know that she was.

"Quiet, Kiba," Shino reprimanded before pulling out a beetle from his pocket and holding it out to Naruto. Naruto leaned closer and saw that it was in fact a brooch made to look like a beetle. "It's the newest thing among certain people." He was talking about the serious Goth movement at school. They had taken to wearing clips that looked like real bugs. Naruto took the brooch and fastened it to the lapel of her robe.

"Ah! Naruto, with your beauty and youth you'll be well in no time!" Lee exclaimed finally coming over to the bed and lifting a thick black eyebrow and Naruto watched as it disappeared into his shiny bowl cut hair. She blinked then refocused on the guy in green. He pulled out a pair of orange leg warmers and handed them to her. "These will help you focus on getting better quickly. Just think of it as training!"

Naruto nodded but made no movement to put them on. She opened her mouth to thank everyone but winced at the burning sensation of her throat telling her that most of the pain killer was wearing off.

"Okay, its time for another dose of medicine," Tsunade said as she swept through the door only to come to a quick halt as seeing so many people in the room. "Ah, visitors! Naruto, you're so lucky to have so many friends." The well endowed woman exclaimed then glared at Kiba whose mouth had dropped open at seeing her. His jaw snapped shut and he turned red. "But visiting hours are over and you guys need to go home."

There were several mutters of protest which were quickly halted by stern honey-brown eyes and an angry look that no one argued with. Ino, Sakura, Tenten came over and took her hand each giving it a reassuring squeeze before telling her that they would come tomorrow to visit after school. The guys waved and promised the same thing then everyone filed out of the room under the watchful eye of Tsunade. She turned her attention to Sasuke who was still cradling her on his lap. She lifted an eyebrow but didn't say anything just moved to the IV drip that was attached to Naruto's arm and pulled a syringe from a drawer and a vial from her pocket. She injected the painkiller into the drip.

Iruka came through the door carrying a small duffle which he had run home to get. He looked flustered and tousled and more than a little pink from his jaunt home which caused Naruto a lot of amusement. She thought about make a smart assed remark but thought better of it.

"How was Kakashi?" Sasuke asked irreverently with a knowing smirk. He, too, had been around the two more than enough to know Kakashi's habits when he was able to get Iruka alone. And his theory was correct if the tomato face that Iruka broke out into was anything to go by. He chuckled which caused Naruto to try and laugh but succeed only in making more pained expressions because the pain killer wasn't working yet.

"Never, you mind," Iruka said waving the comment off then looking at Tsunade for an update.

"She's fine," Tsunade said. "I just had to chase some of her friends out of here and this young man should be leaving soon…"

"I'm staying," Sasuke said in a really good imitation of his father's sternness when he didn't want to be argued with.

"You're not family, young man; therefore hospital rules state that you can't be here during visiting hours."

"I'm staying," he reiterated.

"No…"

"It's alright, Tsunade, it's no use arguing with them," Iruka broke in. "It would take a tsunami to separate the two if they don't want to be separated and even then I don't think it would work."

"Fine," Tsunade said letting it go, instinctively knowing that Iruka was right. There was just something about the two that made the whole situation seem natural. She shrugged it off. "I'm leaving, the nurse will be in to check up on her every few hours, but unless something happens during the night, I'll be back in the morning for the surgery."

Iruka sighed as he turned away from the closing door and looking to Naruto and Sasuke.

"I didn't get a chance to eat while I was home, so I'm going to run down to the cafeteria and see if they have something to eat, otherwise I guess it's the vendor's special," he said before leaving again.

At the mention of the surgery, Sasuke had felt Naruto to tense up again so he rested his chin on top of her head. She trembled in his arms so he sought to reassure her.

"It'll be over before you know it," he murmured petting her back. "And I'll be here when you wake up."

"What about school?" she whispered in her husky, swollen voice.

"I'll be here."

"Promise?"

He nodded against her head rubbing her hair with his chin.

"'kay," her voice was become slurred with the painkiller.

Iruka returned ten minutes later to find them both asleep. He didn't want to wake Naruto because she was more than a little scared about the surgery; even though she hadn't said anything to him about it he had seen the fear in her large blue eyes. She had been very brave through out the day since finding out about it. He smiled at the cute picture that they made and went to call Mikoto to make sure that she knew where her son was.

愛愛愛愛

Blue eyes fluttered open to meet brown concerned ones. Naruto blinked to clear the sleep out of her brain as focused on Iruka. She tried for a smile but fell short as her eyes fluttered closed. She felt like she was floating but forced her eyes open again. The dryness in her mouth more than a little annoying as was the smell that was stuck in her nose. It was a cloying sweet smell and it made her nauseous.

"Naruto," Iruka called softly.

She looked up at her adoptive father then turned her head away looking for Sasuke. He stood on her other side his fingers laced with hers. A brief smile touched her lips before she succumbed to the drugs again.

The next time Naruto woke Iruka was packing up her things and hauling them out to the car, he was too busy arranging thing that he didn't notice the sky blue orbs trained on him. Sasuke did however and moved to the side of the bed.

"See, you were overly concerned," he muttered.

Naruto made a face at him scrunching up her nose and sticking her tongue out. She opened her mouth to say something then closed it as the burning pain assaulted her throat. She wanted to cough but that make it worse.

Sasuke shook his head. "Its going to be a while until you're fully recovered so until then…" He pulled out a little notebook and pen with a fox on the tip. "…use this."

_Bastard!_ She wrote quickly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Iruka had finally noticed that his charge was finally awake and came over looking down at the notebook. His eyes widened.

"Naruto! I taught you better manners!" he said and snatched up the book tearing the page out then tossing the notebook back into her lap.

Naruto blinked at the shout.

"Apologize to Sasuke right now," he demanded.

Naruto pointed at her throat then shrugged.

"Then WRITE it," he said through gritted teeth at the girl who was playing dense.

_I'm sorry, Sasuke, for calling you a bastard, _she wrote dutifully then grinned cockily, _Teme._

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted again, "that's it you're grounded for a week!" He moved away from the bed muttering about how the first thing she does after getting out of surgery was to insult people who were concerned about her.

Naruto watched his back with a look of disbelief. Surely he had to realize that she wasn't going to be going anywhere until she was better and that would take at least a week. She shook her head before looking back as Sasuke who was suppressing a smile.

"Now, I know where you get it from," he said.

_Get what from?_

"Get your dobe-ishness from."

_Bastard. _ This time she wrote it quickly before tearing it out and tucking it under the pillow.

Sasuke chuckled.

Tsunade came in a few minutes later to check up on her patient once more time before they left.

"Alright, here's a prescription for some painkillers," she said handing a white piece of paper to Iruka. "But only give the painkillers if the pain is sever otherwise just use aspirin or Tylenol. Okay, the pain shouldn't be too bad today but many people tell me that the pain becomes worse of the second day but this is normal so don't panic. Only eat soft non-acidic like ice cream, popsicles, or gelatin; mashed foods and don't eat spicy, or scratchy foods like chips, tacos, that sort of thing. At the end of the week the scabs should start falling off so you need to watch for bleeding but it should be minor. I've already made an appointment for next week on the eleventh."

Iruka had borrowed Naruto's notebook to write down the instructions and looked up when Tsunade finished. She smiled at the man before turning away.

"Naruto, tell that grandfather of yours that I said 'hi' the next time you write." Naruto nodded. She had found out a while ago that the two had been good friends growing up before Tsunade had gone to med school.

Naruto nodded, and then swung her legs to the side of the bed. Sasuke moved to help her up taking her arm. She stood up on weak, unsteady legs that wobbled for a moment before she was able to stand upright with her full weight supported by the limbs. She made a little movement to settle her pajama's into the correct position and allowed Sasuke to help her into her robe which had been abandoned just before the surgery.

Iruka came up on her other side and together he and Sasuke were able to get Naruto to the car and into the back seat without her falling flat on her face though it was a close call. Sasuke climbed into the back with her while Iruka drove them home.

Kakashi greeted them at the door with a warm grin for the girl and hugging her briefly despite her protests. Naruto pushed out of his arms and would have landed on her butt if Sasuke hadn't caught her with an arm around her waist and helped her to the couch to sit.

"Naruto, would you like some ice cream?" Iruka asked having had Kakashi stock up while they were in the hospital.

Naruto shook her head letting it drop back onto the pillows that were supporting her and closing her eyes missing the worried look that Iruka passed to Kakashi. The silver haired man tucked Iruka into his side for a brief moment of comfort. Sasuke sighed and went to fetch another blanket from her room after tucking the fleece one around her feet and legs.

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**A/N: I like ice cream, chocolate, vanilla....mmmm! Well, there you go my lovely little readers, I hope you liked the chapter it was shorter than the others though, please go ahead and review and if you want to flame (dupel) please do so with a PM. Thanks so much! I will respond to reviews as they come in or perhaps tomorrow...Hm, have to work tomorrow so it might be later than that.  
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**ZEN  
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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow! A new update, haha! To anyone who doesn't like Sasuke and FemNaruto there is always a 'back' button. For the rest of us, READ ON!!!! Whoo Hooo!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, Naruto isn't mine...too bad though...*thinks about all the things I could do with him* sigh....

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Fourteen year old Naruto ran through the entry way of the school knowing that she was late to her first class on her first day of high school. She bemoaned the fact that Iruka had insisted that she eat breakfast before leaving which had only cause her to be more late when she argued with him and telling him that she wanted to loose some weight. He had argued back with the fact that she was already under weight and could stand to use some extra pounds. She'd glared before slamming the door on her way out. He just didn't understand!

So here she was panic slicing through her as she looked at her schedule and around the empty corridor.

"Come on, dobe," a voice said from behind her, grabbing her arm and pulling her down the hallway. "I knew you were going to be late and I was right."

"Teme," Naruto muttered but allowed Sasuke to guide her down the corridor grateful that he knew her so well.

Their first class was with a woman by the name of Anko Mitarashi and she glared at them as they entered. She was an intimidating woman with blue black hair that was pulled back onto a upside down pony tail that spiked straight into the defying gravity.

"I hope that this isn't going to be a common occurrence," the woman stated lifting her chin for a more authoritative look.

"Um, no, ma'am," Naruto muttered lying through her teeth as she followed Sasuke to a seat near the back.

Kiba grinned at her while the rest of the group waved from behind Anko's back while she began a lecture on school etiquette and what she expected out of them in her class. When the bell rang, Naruto had never been so glad to leave a class.

"That woman is nuts!" she exclaimed with a small shudder thinking of the point when Anko had leaned over Naruto from behind and threatening to cut out her tongue if she disrupted the class again. Naruto had tried to point out that Kiba had made a face behind her back which had caused Naruto to laugh but did the woman have a sense of fairness. No. She had taken a dislike for Naruto and told her that 'if you don't quite disrupting the class, I'm going to take my trusty little dagger that I keep in my desk and give you a nice little Mexican necktie to go with your cute little outfit'. She'd been referring to the school uniform of short sleeved, white, button up top and the gray pleated skirt that just reached her knees.

"I suggest that next time you ignore Kiba," Sasuke said then pulled his tote a little higher. "I have Physics next; I'll meet you outside your fourth class for lunch." Naruto nodded then watched a bit forlornly as he made his way through the throng of students that had crowded the hallway, and then turned to Ino who had the same art class with her.

She had to admit that she felt a bit lost without Sasuke; this was the first time that they didn't have classes together. Even during Junior High they had the same classes, though Sasuke'd had to help her through the harder ones. But this year they had decided to take different classes.

愛愛愛愛

The bell rang to signal the end of fourth hour and Naruto leaped to her feet eager to meet up with Sasuke for lunch. She hauled her tote onto her shoulder and was out the door before anyone else only to come to an abrupt halt when she barreled into a more solid figure. Her books went flying as she stumbled back into the door; her back connecting with the door knob.

"Hey, bitch, watch where you're going!" a harsh high voice exclaimed.

Naruto looked up into the face of one to the upper classmen and cold, black eyes that looked back at her with disdain. His gray hair was slicked back and his thin face reflecting his dislike for her. Around his neck was a pendant of a triangle surrounded by a circle and even that seemed to make Naruto's heart thump in fear.

"I'm s-sorry," she stuttered in apology as she quickly bent down to gather up her belongings ignoring the throbbing in her lower back. She stuffed them back into her bag hurriedly without really thinking about what she was doing and the contents ended up in haphazard disorder. She couldn't find her pencil and glanced around before spying it in between the senior's feet and she reached for it.

A cruel hand fisted in her hair and pulled. She yelped in pain and grabbed his hand to stop him from pulling her hair more. The sudden attack and stinging pain caused her to freeze where she was for a moment.

"Karin," he asked the red head who was standing next to him, "isn't this the bitch that hangs around the youngest Uchiha?"

"Why, yes, Hidan, it is," the girl purred peering down at Naruto through thick horn rim glasses. "Why don't we do him a favor?"

"That's just what I was thinking," he grinned back before looking down at his captive.

"Let go," Naruto growled getting angry as she tried to pry his fingers loose from around her hair. She didn't like feeling helpless and the stinging in her scalp helped to fuel the rage that was surfacing. If it wasn't for the fact that Iruka had taught her that violence didn't solve anything then she probably would have acted by know.

And she didn't know her opponent's strength; she rationalized silently sizing the guy holding her up. He didn't seem very strong, in fact it seemed like he used intimidation more that physical violence to get what he wanted.

"Maybe if you kiss my dick, I will," he laughed pulling her closer to the object.

"I'd rather kiss a snake, at least they're cleaner," Naruto hissed hands clenching at her sides.

Hidan obviously didn't find that funny because the grin was wiped from his face and he leaned down.

"Listen, bitch…"

"I'd let her go, if I were you," Sasuke's said anger suffusing his speech.

"Sasuke-kun!' Karin exclaimed. Sasuke didn't even spare her a glance.

"Uchiha," Hidan said straightening but he kept his grip on Naruto's hair. "What are you going to do about it if I don't" he taunted.

"I'm not going to do a thing, but Naruto will tear you into shreds if you don't let her hair go." Sasuke explained calmly.

Hidan giggle uproariously at that. But Naruto had enough and her fist punched into the nearest soft spot of the guy holding her. Hidan howled as he released her. Naruto ducked a swat he sent her way before her other fist swung upward to connect with his nose as he collapsed to the ground cupping the injuries. She didn't stop there though and grabbed his hair in both hand and shook him.

"Don't…ever…touch…me…again," she ground out with each shake then thrust him backwards and let go.

"Goddamned demon, no wonder your parents abandoned you," Hidan cried as he fell to his knees hands tucked between his legs and his head falling to the floor.

Naruto froze for the space of three seconds before backing away from the guy and her lips curving into a smile.

"Heh, I would keep that in mind the next time you want to grab someone and force oral sex on them," she muttered then backed up another step before turning and storming down the hallway. The anger etched on her face caused people to move out of her way even while they craned their necks to see what had happened.

Sasuke finally caught up to her rapid steps as she passed through the doorway and into the courtyard. Sakura saw them, stood and waved to make sure that they knew where the rest of the group was.

As the two approached, she noticed the ruffled appearance of Naruto not to mention the anger that was radiating off of her.

"What happened?" she asked when Naruto took a seat next to her with Sasuke sitting on the other side of the blond.

"A senior deciding to humiliate a lower classman," Naruto replied briefly.

"Why do I have the feeling that there is more to the story?" Sakura said as she studied the pair.

"Because you are smart and perceptive," Lee said from her elbow. Sakura threw him a grin at the compliment.

"I bumped into this Hidan guy and as I was picking up the stuff that I dropped he grabbed my hair and told me to kiss his dick while I was at it," Naruto growled. "Sasuke showed up, I got mad, and hit him where it hurts the most. He called me a demon and said that it wasn't any wonder that my parents left me."

There were several gasps heard from the females of the group.

"Then what did you do?" Ino asked outraged that someone had spoken so to her friend.

"What could I do that wouldn't cause more trouble? I walked away," Naruto mumbled as Sasuke handed her a bottle of juice. She popped the seal and gulped some down.

"Well at least you got in a good shot," Kiba said as he turned to watch a couple of girls walk by, the wind edging the hems of their skirts up.

Naruto rolled her eyes but caught the look that Hinata had in her eyes as she watched Kiba gazing at the curvy, older women. Hinata'd had a crush on Kiba for the past two years but the boy remained oblivious to the shy girl who turned red at the drop of a hat or a look from Kiba. With an inward sigh, Naruto decided to help Hinata or at least try to divert Kiba's attention from outside influences.

"Kiba, for heaven's sake, could you please keep your eyes in your head for once!" Naruto shouted as she tossed the empty plastic bottle at him. She felt extremely satisfied when the bottle thunked against his forehead drawing his attention away from the girls.

"Hey!" he shouted as he rubbed the spot. "What was that for?"

"Mainly, because you're an idiot."

"Look who's talking."

Laughing at the disconcerted look of the feral boy's face, Naruto picked up the turkey sandwich that Sasuke had laid out for her and continued eating feeling better now that she was with her friends and distracted.

愛愛愛愛

Since it was Monday and Iruka wouldn't be home until much later, Sasuke lead Naruto through his front door. The house hadn't changed much in the last four years. The lower portion still looked like a sterile museum with the white walls and antique vases and furniture. The walked through the house quietly and reaching the kitchen, Naruto slid onto a stool and up to the island as Sasuke opened the freezer and pulled out a carton of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Why didn't you interfere with that guy?" Naruto frowned, brow furrowing. It had been on her mind throughout the day. Sasuke had always rescued her from various situations and today he had stood back and let her take care of herself.

"After fighting with you for four years, I knew you could handle yourself." He dished up the frozen treat into two bowls without looking up.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Naruto relapsed into silence as she thought about what he had said. It was quite true that they had been in any number of scuffles, usually started by her. Alright, always started by her. When they argued about something she would get angry and jump on him, very seldom was it that she had ended up the victor though.

"Hey, Naru," a voice said from the doorway.

Itachi stepped into the kitchen and took up a stool on the other side of the girl.

"Mm, Cherry Garcia, my favorite. Do you mind if I have a bite?" Without waiting for a word he took her hand which had just scooped up a bite and brought it to his mouth licking the spoon before devouring the ice cream.

Naruto blinked at the older Uchiha then turned a bright shade of red.

"Will you knock that off?" Sasuke said glaring at his brother.

"What? Naruto looks even cuter when she imitates a tomato," Itachi said grinning at Naruto.

"Hi, Itachi," Naruto finally greeted as she pulled the bowl closer to her and dropped the spoon onto the counter before taking up another that Sasuke handed her.

"So, how was school today?" he asked standing and getting his own bowl of ice cream.

Naruto watched the older boy as he moved about the kitchen. She didn't know why but every time he was in the room with her she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. It was kind of like the way a mouse would watch a snake.

"School was fine," Sasuke commented finishing his treat. He noticed Naruto watching Itachi and frowned.

He felt the familiar jealousy eating away at him but he had long ago learned not to act upon it. He clenched he teeth and tried to think of something that would get the two away from each other but until Naruto finished her own bowl he was stuck and she had quit eating.

"Are you done?" he leaned closer to ask drawing Naruto's attention away from Itachi.

"Oh, yeah, I guess so." She seemed a little dazed and Sasuke took advantage of it and pulled her off the stool and up to his room where he closed the door firmly. He'd heard Itachi's chuckles as they had left the kitchen and knew that he had done it on purpose to get Sasuke riled. Having succeeded, Itachi would back off for a while which relieved Sasuke's mind but only a little because the older they got the bolder Itachi got.

"Naruto, have you ever asked Iruka where your parents went?" Sasuke asked as he started up the games system that his parents had gotten him for Christmas last year. He handed a paddle to Naruto.

"Yeah, but every time I ask he tells me the same thing as always," she said waiting for the game to load.

"What's that?"

"'When you're older and more mature,'" she said in a nearly perfect imitation of Iruka's voice.

Sasuke snickered at how close she had come to sounding just like the man. He selected his gaming avatar and the battle gear that it would wear then waited for Naruto to do the same.

"I'm going to kick your butt!" Naruto boasted as the fight sequence started and they began the duel.

Sasuke lost interest in the conversation for the next hour and concentrated on winning against Naruto. Since he had taught her how to play the game Naruto had become a very strategic opponent and it took most of his skills to win against her and if he lost focus for even a second she gained a huge lead. It seemed like her thumbs would blur as she manipulated the buttons to get the most out of the character she selected.

"Crap!" Naruto shouted as she lost another round. Grinning evilly, she grabbed a pillow off the bed and smacked Sasuke in the face with it. She snickered at the look on his face when the pillow bounced off.

Sasuke blinked at the sudden and unexpected attack but recovered quickly grabbing the other pillow. Naruto was on her feet and backing away only to hit the wall as Sasuke advanced with his weapon.

"A surprise attack on your host!" He swung only to miss as Naruto ducked away giggling. As she ran she swung her own pillow around and caught him in the stomach and the fight was on.

They dodged attacks, jumping and leaping about the room in a semi-serious pillow fight. Naruto's loud shouts filling the room and upper floor of the house with Sasuke's more moderate tones filling the gaps.

Downstairs Mikoto blinked at the loud thumps and muffled voices before smiling in contentment. It was so good to hear her son playing, something that had happened more and more since Naruto entered their lives. He had been such a solemn child but had opened up to Kushina's daughter and in turn to them. Even her husband hadn't remained unaffected by the girl because, she had seen him smile over something that Naruto had said or done. The household was more relaxed when Naruto was around offering up sunny smiles and warmth.

Fugaku stuck his head out of his study and frowned at the ceiling before looking at Mikoto.

"Is Naruto here?" he asked.

"Yes," Mikoto replied as she approached her husband. She placed a hand on his chest petting him before glancing in concern at a particularly loud thump and shout.

"Hmph, I'm not going to get anymore work done with that racket so I might as well clean up and then we can go out to dinner," he leaned forward and gave his wife a peck on the cheek.

Another bonus to Naruto's presence in their lives, Fugaku had began to take her out to dinner more and more often, just like when they were in college and he was dating her. She giggled and went to change into a better outfit, one with a flared skirt and a low cut blouse, maybe even some high heels that would show off her legs more.

Sasuke landed on the floor with Naruto on top, straddling his hips and batting him with the pillow as feathers rained down around them. He froze in mid swing allowing her to land another blow before she noticed that he wasn't hitting back. She looked down at him seeing the dazed expression on his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked in concern drawing his attention back from where ever it had been.

"Yes…" he said slowly dropping the pillow and watching her to see if she noticed their positions.

Naruto cocked her head to the side and raised one eyebrow.

"Um, Sasuke, why are you looking at me that way?"

"What way?"

"I don't know, you just have a funny look on your face."

"Hn."

Naruto shifted until she was sitting next to him. He sighed feeling the loss of her warmth and trying to calm himself. His movements slow and deliberate so that he didn't draw her attention to the part of his anatomy that had reacted to her presence. He didn't want to scare her nor did he want their relationship to change, as it was he had been trying to treat her normally for the last year and as it was there were days when his temper was shorter than normal and he snapped out at her only to see the confusion in her eyes. Those days were the worst because he knew that she didn't understand. He had watched the couples in their group getting close and he had seen that Naruto wasn't blind to them but for some reason he wasn't on her radar.

Sighing he sat up pulling the pillow into his lap to cover the evidence.

"Why don't we go outside and throw the ball around," he suggested. That should be a nice simple activity that would keep them apart.

"Okay."

Gathering up the gloves and the ball, they tromped down the stairs only to stop when Sasuke caught sight of his mom dressed up to go out.

"Oh, hello, Sasuke, Naruto. Sasuke, your dad and I are going out to dinner. I left some money on the counter so that you can order a pizza or some take out when you get hungry. Itachi, I think, went over to Deidara's and shouldn't be back until late," Mikoto explained.

"Thanks, Mom," Sasuke said.

"Wow, Mrs. Uchiha, you look really nice," Naruto commented as Fugaku entered.

"Yes, she does," Sasuke's father said looking at his wife in approval and kissing her softly on the cheek before taking her arm and leading her out.

Sasuke shook his head in bemusement. He gathered himself then led Naruto out the door and into the back yard.

愛愛愛愛

Naruto watched TV as she waited for Iruka to get home. Kakashi was in the kitchen making dinner, a white ruffled apron tied around his waist as he stirred the bowl of marinade. He kept glancing in on her knowing that trouble was brewing just by the minute frown that was gracing Naruto's lips. She had something on her mind and if Kakashi didn't know better it was probably about her parents again which meant that Iruka would be in a poor mood later and that meant that Kakashi was going to need to take a cold shower.

He sighed as he went to pour the marinade over the pork roast he had been preparing.

Keys jingled at the door as it was opened to reveal the slender form of Iruka and his tired sigh. He closed the door behind him and set the briefcase he was carrying on the small table that was next to the door. He yawned widely before glancing around to see that Naruto's eyes were trained on him. The look of expectation caused a cold shiver to run down his spine and he shivered despite the heat of the evening.

"Naruto," Iruka said in greeting eyeing the doorway to the kitchen, thinking that if he was quick he could get to the other side of the living room in just a few steps.

"Hi," Naruto said simply, "Um, can I talk to you?"

Iruka's shoulders fell as he sighed and sat down next to Naruto trying to prepare himself for the talk. "You can talk to me anytime, you know that."

"I know," she began to fidget on the sofa her hands twisting about as she looked every where but at him.

"Is this about your parents?" he asked thinking that he needed to just get this over with.

"No." She looked at him then back at the kitchen hoping that Kakashi didn't poke his head in.

"Then maybe you should just blurt it out," Iruka suggested getting even antsier as Naruto delayed. He began to think the worst, Naruto wanted to talk to him about sex or something along those lines. He'd had a hard enough time when she was thirteen explaining about her period and having babies; he didn't think that he could survive another one of those talks.

"Sasuke has been acting weird."

Iruka blinked and nearly laughed but suppressed it at the last minute. "Oh?" he said biting back the 'is that all'.

"Yeah, we were playing video games at his house and win he won the last game we got into a pillow fight then he just stopped. I thought that I had done something wrong but he acted like everything was normal, and then we went outside to play ball but he wouldn't come near me," Naruto blurted in a rush of words which Iruka just barely caught.

"Ah."

"What do you mean 'ah'! I did do something wrong, didn't I? I'll have to tell him I'm sorry…but…I don't know what I'm apologizing over. If I don't know and he won't tell me then how am I supposed to not do it again?!" Naruto jumped to her feet and began to pace in her agitation.

"Naruto!" Iruka interrupted the triad before she got even more worked up. "Sit down and quit jumping to conclusions." He waited until Naruto had sat back down; thinking that it was too soon and he didn't want to deal with this. "You haven't done anything to hurt Sasuke, this I am sure of. But you are going to have to wait for Sasuke to tell you what is wrong on his own."

"Why?"

Iruka sighed. "Because it's for him to do."

"Well, what if he never does tell me?"

"Then that's up to him but you can't push him. Do you understand?"

"No, but I won't push him, okay?"

"Okay," Iruka sighed and stood up, going to the kitchen.

"I heard that," Kakashi said coming up to him and hugging him close. "Our little Naruto is growing up, even though she still doesn't understand her relationship with Sasuke."

"I don't know if I can deal with this, Kakashi," Iruka muttered into his lovers shoulder. "We've done the whole birds and bees talk, but…"

"You're going to have to trust that she'll make the right decisions. You've raised her to be a very independent person and you've raised her right, as good as her own parents could have."

"And that's another thing; pretty soon she's going to be asking about them again. I don't think I can put it off any longer and I don't think that I should. It's been hard enough on her already, but to know the real reason that they left…I don't know what she'll do."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, okay?"

"Okay…"

Kakashi ducked his head and captured Iruka's lips gently with his own, smiling when he heard the muffled moan as hand traveled up his back to clutch at his shoulders.

Later that night, Naruto lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about everything that had happened.

Kakashi had kept the conversation casual as he asked about school. Naruto related that she had been late to which Iruka had frowned in disapproval but had expressed outrage when Naruto told him about Hidan. He'd been about to storm out of the apartment to hunt down the guy or his parents and demand an apology but Naruto had forbidden him to do so. She wasn't going to be embarrassed further by her over protective guardian. But to her surprise Kakashi had agreed with Iruka stating that the boy shouldn't be allowed to get away with sexual harassment and he would take her to school tomorrow and talk to the principal. Naruto had to forbid him which was a first in her life. She'd gotten them to back down when she told them that she had fought dirty getting in a cheap shot which seemed to calm them down a little so that she could talk them out of going to the school. Lord knows that she didn't want to be a social outcast for having to have her parents solve her problems for her.

She moved on to Sasuke's strange behavior.

She remembered the first time he had behaved strangely toward her.

It'd been at Ino's pool party during the summer a year ago and Naruto had been excited to show off her new swimsuit. It'd been a red bikini. She'd gone shopping with Iruka and talked him into it telling him that Sakura, Ino and Tenten had bikinis though he had still been against the idea but Naruto refused to get a one piece. She'd said that if she couldn't have the bikini then she'd just go to the party naked. Iruka had eventually caved though she thought it was more to avoid a bigger scene than Naruto had already given.

She'd shimmied out of her shorts and was getting ready to do a cannonball into the pool when Sasuke had grabbed her arm and asked her what she'd thought she was doing. Confused she'd told him that she was going swimming. He'd gotten even angrier at her and she still didn't know why he'd said what he had. She shuddered to recall it.

"If you want to look like a slut then you shouldn't do it at your friends' party."

She'd stuttered that she didn't look like a slut but the damage had been done and she'd redressed and spent the rest of the night avoiding Sasuke and hiding in the shadows. It'd taken a couple of weeks but Sasuke had eventually apologized but not before Naruto had thrown the bikini away. She'd refused to go to the beach when Kakashi suggested it or anywhere else where swimsuits were required.

She tossed and turned the whole night which caused her to wake up late, and then she got to school late which made Anko glare at her some more and just plain made the rest of the day miserable.

Naruto waited for Sasuke to tell her what was wrong, but he never did and she eventually grew used to the behavior though it didn't happen too often.

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**A/N Well there it is, I hope you enjoyed it. I worked really hard on it but ended up deleting a lot and rewriting. Please, please, please leave a review and I will respond.**

**THANKS EVERYONE**

**ZEN  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Update time, are you excited! Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Naruto.**

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October tenth, Naruto woke up with the date locked into her mind. She'd never been so excited in her life as she tossed back her covers and leaped out of bed only to have to catch herself before she landed face first into the carpeted floor as a pile of dirty clothes reached up to trip her. She kicked at the pile scattering the gathered shirts and pants into further disarray before heading for the kitchen to have breakfast.

It was Saturday which meant that out of all of her friends she didn't have to wait an extra few days to celebrate her sixteenth birthday.

She bounced into the kitchen and seeing Kakashi sitting at the table bent over a bowl of wheat flakes she bent over and kissed him on the cheek. He looked up in surprise at the show of affection that she rarely ever displayed towards him. More like never.

"Good morning," she chirped as she took out her own bowl and poured some sugary concoction into it then getting out the milk and pouring it over the turtle shaped objects with colorful marshmallows appearing at random intervals.

"You're in a good mood, oddly enough this morning," Kakashi commented then smiled as Iruka came into the kitchen in mid yawn scratching his head.

"It's not every day that one turns sixteen and has a blowout party planned. Which reminds me, Mikoto is going to pick me up and she's treating me to a day at the spa, then I get to have my hair made up, and after that she'd taking me shopping for a dress! Then it's back to here to get ready and then Sasuke is picking me up to take me to the park for the party!" Naruto was nearly squealing by the time she was finished telling Kakashi the time line of her day. "Hey, where's Iruka?"

"Meh, he said that he needed to do some shopping so he left early. He'll be back before you so don't worry about him too much." Kakashi finished his cereal then stood to put his dishes in the sink. "I've got some things to do today to so I'll see you later. Have fun at the spa!' He disappeared out the door leaving Naruto to her own breakfast.

Mikoto picked Naruto up at Nine on the dot and drove them to the huge white building that housed natural hot springs, mud baths, and cool pools along with the man made rooms for messages, wraps, and other tortures that women put themselves through in order to look good.

Naruto spent thirty minutes in the hot tub before being shuffled into the colder pool which was said to stimulate the blood. Naruto thought that they just like to hear people scream at the top of their lungs when they were plunged into an ice bath. From there, she had a message that she thought was just heavenly and while she relaxed in another room she was given a facial. The attendant enjoyed plucking every stray hair between Naruto's eyes with slow deliberate painfulness. At the end of the spa treatment, Mikoto shuffled Naruto into their specialty area and her make up for the night was completed along with instructions on how she could do it herself.

At the beauty salon, Naruto was shoved into a chair while a very effeminate man hovered over her clucking in distaste at Naruto's hair.

"Honey, you need to take better care of your crowning beauty!" He exclaimed as he tugged at a lock. "Now, let's take off some of this so it frames your face with these lush curls."

"What?!" Naruto nearly had a heart attack. The man wanted to get rid of her hair! She nearly bolted from the chair before Mikoto interrupted.

She played soothing mediator between Naruto and the man and in the end he trimmed the locks as best he could between whimpers coming from the girl as she saw six inches of hair end up on the floor. Then he styled the sunny locks into a becoming up do that was interlaced with sparkling crystals.

Once Naruto had calmed herself from having her hair cut, they made their way to a tiny boutique that was terrifyingly expensive and as soon as she saw the prices of the dresses she tried to turn around and leave.

"Naruto! This is Fugaku's and my gift to you so if you don't want to insult us then you will let us do this for you!" Mikoto was unmoving in her conviction and Naruto sighed knowing that she was defeated even before she could raise a word of protest.

Naruto was forced to spend an hour trying on dresses and being poked, prodded, moved here and there while two older women and Mikoto talked about the designer, the cut, and the material of every dress that she wore for all of two minutes until she spied a peach colored dress near the back of the shop.

Stepping away from the mirrors and slowly making her way to the rack, trying to avoid snagging the dress she was currently wearing on anything she pulled the dress out and looked it over carefully. It was an off the shoulder dress that floated to the floor in layers of silk, tiny bead work decorated the waist and down curving layer of skirting. The dress tied at the shoulder with the same material as the rest of the dress and Naruto loved it.

She turned to see Mikoto smiling widely at her as she nodded toward the dressing room so that Naruto could try the dream on. Naruto quickly discarded the latest tragedy and pulled on the dress tying the shoulder straps into a loose knot before stepping out. The attendants eyes widened in surprise at the girl as she emerged from behind the doors.

"Oh, Naruto, you look so lovely," Mikoto said as she pulled Naruto to the mirrors.

Standing before her image she had to blink and look carefully to make sure that the girl standing there was really here and not some goddess that they had replaced her with. Naruto hadn't really noticed how different she looked with the make-up, new hair style and now a new dress that seemed to be made for her.

The dress hugged her tiny waist and draped elegantly over hips to fall to her calves in flowing waves of peach. The bodice tucked in then cupped her torso with loving care clinging to her and making her feel feminine for the first time in her life.

Since she hung out with Sasuke and most of her friends were guys, they just naturally ended up doing masculine things. They played baseball, went hiking, and watched action movies at the theaters. She didn't go shopping, she hated the trouble it took to put make up on so she rarely slept over at Ino's, Sakura's, or Hinata's; and forget the girly pastime of makeovers, Naruto would rather be stuck in a pit full of poisonous snakes.

But at this moment, she loved being a girl.

The rest of the time was spent finding undergarments such as stockings, matching bra and panties in the same color as the dress along with shoes. Mikoto found a pair of three inch, spiked heeled, open toed ones that were white with peach leather accents and straps that wound around her ankles and tied on the side. She commented that they were elegant yet sexy just like her dress which cause Naruto to blush deeply.

It was getting late in the afternoon when Mikoto dropped Naruto off at her apartment so that she could change and finish getting ready for the party. Iruka had reserved a section of the park for Naruto sweet sixteen birthday party. He'd then recruited Kakashi, and several of his female co-workers to help with decorating the area and setting up tables. Kakashi had hired a live band for the festivities, they were a local band but they played some really good sings, in Naruto's opinion. He'd also pitched in for a caterer to take care of refreshments, and to make sure that nothing extra ended up in the punch bowl.

Naruto stepped out of her bedroom fully dressed in the peach confection more than a little nervous about the reaction she'd get from her guardians. She made her way down the hallway towards the living room clutching her hands together and feeling the urgent need to lock herself in her room for the rest of the night. She forced her shoulders to relax then her back and hoped that the butterflies in her stomach didn't suddenly decide to rebel as she took a deep breath and took the final step that would bring her into full view of Iruka and Kakashi.

She heard Iruka's gasp then she was pulled into a tight embrace by the man. His arms wrapped tightly about her he tucked her head under his chin and she felt him tremble. She looked over to Kakashi who had risen to his feet and was smiling happily at the two most important people in his life.

"Iruka, I think you have frightened the girl. Let her go and tell her how wonderful she looks," he suggested with a wink in Naruto's direction.

"Yes, yes," Iruka muttered and stepped back taking Naruto hands instead. He held them out as he took in the whole picture and Naruto could see that he was trying not to cry which in turn made her eyes water. "You look so grown up! It just enforces how much you've changed in the last couple of years. Your parent would be so proud of you right now. I wish that they could be here to see you."

A tear fell from Naruto eye before Iruka stepped forward and swiped it before it could ruin her make up. Naruto gathered her chaotic emotions up and grinned up at Iruka.

"Do you really think so?" she asked in a near whisper because her throat had suddenly constricted.

"I really do." Iruka pulled her into another hug then relinquished her so that Kakashi could hug her as well.

"You'll do fine tonight. Just don't drink, smoke, or do any drugs and make sure that you get home at a semi reasonable time and use protections if you have sex…" He broke off as Iruka balled up a fist and brought it down on his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Kakashi! You don't tell your ward to use protection if she has sex! You are supposed to tell her to make the right decision and not have sex until she it thirty two and married!"

"Then she wouldn't have any fun, Iruka! Be reasonable. OW!"

Naruto sighed as she stepped out of the way as Kakashi ran down the hall dodging projectiles thrown by an irate Iruka. Just as she was beginning to think that she had somehow been transported to a very bad circus the door bell rang and she had another attack of nerves.

She opened the door with a shaky hand and peered out of the crack to see Sasuke standing in the hall wearing a black tuxedo with a black collarless shirt. He was breath taking in the tailored suit and he was looking at her eye in expectation. She blinked before stepping back and letting him come in.

"Hi, Sasuke, welcome to the Umino-Hatake circus!"

"Hn." He stepped into the apartment and immediately froze in place staring at Naruto. She was stunning and he felt his chest begin to hurt reminding him that he needed to breath. "You look really nice." He said as soon as he could breath normally again.

"Thank you," Naruto responded her fingers twisting together nervously. She couldn't understand why he seemed to make her so tense lately and when he looked at her sometimes she couldn't seem to breathe. That was how she was feeling right about now, tense and breathless. Her heart was pounding in her chest a million miles a minute and her body seemed to be readying itself for something which scared her.

"Pictures, Iruka!" Kakashi exclaimed in an attempt to distract his lover from killing him and it worked because Iruka loved taking picture of any special occasion that involved Naruto.

Iruka pulled out a digital camera and began to snap off several shots directing the two teens into various positions like they were modeling for a magazine. Then he ordered Naruto to stand alone while Kakashi pulled Sasuke into a quick embrace, or a one armed hug and proceeded to whisper in his ear. Naruto watched the pair while following Iruka's orders and she saw his eye brow lift at regular intervals at what ever Kakashi was telling him then she saw him go pale before he pulled away from the silver haired man in shock. He nodded rapidly to Kakashi who smiled back at him in a very friendly manner.

"Kakashi, what did you tell him?" Naruto asked as Iruka pulled Sasuke into another photo shoot.

"Oh, nothing important, just a few last minute instructions for tonight," Kakashi hedged.

Before Naruto could question him further, Sasuke was next to her taking her arm and leading her out the door.

"We'd better go before you're late to your own party."

"Oh, yeah," Naruto agreed. "Bye!" she called over her shoulder as the door closed.

The drive to the park was short and conducted in silence as Naruto tried to keep her stomach from bouncing around in excitement and fear. They parked close to the entrance and were greeted by Sakura and Lee as they stood waiting near the entrance. The section of the park that was reserved was mostly hidden behind tall hedges allowing for privacy and boundaries. The archway was decorated with hundreds of tiny white lights that blinked and sparkled in the dimming light of evening.

"Naruto, Happy Birthday!" Sakura exclaimed as she hurried forward to hug Naruto then stepping back. "Oh, wow, is that the dress Sasuke's mom bought for you?" she asked in awe. "It's gorgeous!"

Naruto laughed at the envy she heard in the pink haired girl's voice and she knew she was worrying over nothing.

"Such a wonderful youthful figure!" Lee exclaimed with a sigh before stepping forward to claim his own hug.

For the next hour Naruto greeted her guests and listened to the music from the band, tapping her toes or swaying. She sent from group to group making sure that everyone knew where everything was and that they were enjoying themselves. She'd lost Sasuke somewhere in the crowd and kept one eye out for him.

She half screamed as an arm grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground. She heard a familiar laugh as Kiba squeezed lightly before setting her on her feet.

"So how's the birthday girl? Have you gotten that first kiss?" Kiba teased. He found amusement in the oddest things and his latest interest was Naruto non-existent love life and the fact that she had never been kissed.

"I'm fine, and none of your business," Naruto said as she tried to extract herself from the feral boy's arms.

"Huh?"

"Exactly. Now let me go."

Kiba finally noticed her struggled and stepped back with a snort. "You know, if I didn't already have my eye on someone else I would help you out of your predicament." He was already looking around the party showing signs of his short attention span. "Have you seen Hinata?"

Naruto's demon instincts kicked in as she smirked evilly at him. "Yeah, I saw her being introduced to a friend of Neji's. I'd never seen two people click so easily. They looked really good together, you should go see for yourself."

Kiba frowned at Naruto. "What? Neji…Hinata….who?" his voice became a low growl as he seemed to sniff the air for prey and Naruto watched in fascination as his eyes seemed to elongate and he studied the crowd. He stalked off in the direction that she'd seen Hinata and she had a momentary prick of guilt and hoped that she didn't cause Hinata any trouble, but honestly, Kiba was really slow on the uptake and she was surprised that Hinata had waited for the dog boy.

"Naruto!"

She heard the shout and turned to see Konkuro from Suna and his little brother, Gaara, approaching. She'd met Gaara at a dance last year, he'd been dating one of Naruto's classmates but in the end they'd spent a lot of the night talking and before the dance was over they'd exchanged emails. Now they talked regularly almost every night. During the summer break Gaara had invited her and a few of her friends over for a swim at their private beach house and there she'd met Konkuro who was a bit more outspoken than his brother and Gaara's older sister, Temari.

She quickly met them and hugged them both. "Ah, I'm so happy you two could make it!"

"Thanks, Temari said to give you a hug for her and to let you know that she's looking forward to you coming out next summer for a longer stay." Konkuro said. "Oh, wow, this place looks great, did your guardian do it?"

"Yes."

"Nice."

"Konkuro, go get a cup of punch," Gaara muttered before taking Naruto arm and guiding her onto the make shift dance floor.

"You know, you're supposed to ask first," Naruto groused but allowed the red head to lead her into the dance.

"So, had the Uchiha made a move yet?" Gaara asked out of the blue.

"What?"

"Uchiha, has he asked you out?"

"No, why would he do that?"

Gaara just shook his head, "I thought it was quite obvious that he likes you, at least to me it is."

"Well, of course Sasuke likes me, we've been best friends for most of our lives." Naruto said with a little confusion.

"I wasn't meaning friendship like. I was talking about the more intimate version."

"More intimate version."

That nearly brought a laugh to the red heads lips. "Yes, the more intimate version. Seriously, Naruto, you can be really oblivious to things close to you. I'd hoped that he would have declared his feeling towards you."

Naruto wagged her head in the negative direction, as she tried to absorb what Gaara was implying. Sasuke _liked_ her? Liked, liked, and not as a friend? Her brow furrowed and she couldn't really place what emotions that ran through her. Those feeling from before were back but with a new intensity that left her light headed. Thankfully, the dance was coming to and end and Gaara had taken her arm and lead her back through the throng of people to a table.

"Here, sit," he pushed her down into the seat while Konkuro handed her a cup of punch.

Naruto quickly gulped it down.

"Hmm…I take it that you told her that Sasuke liked her," Konkuro concluded as he watched the girl try not to hyperventilate.

"Yes." Gaara had talked to Konkuro about the feelings that the Uchiha was hiding from Naruto and they had speculated on whether to clue Naruto in. From her reaction, he thought that the mission had been very successful.

"I thought that we weren't going to say anything?" Konkuro went on to say.

"We did, but I decided to go ahead and let her know."

Konkuro withdrew knowing that the argument was pointless now and that all they could do was damage control now. He quickly stood up. "I'll go get some more punch." He left Gaara to do it.

"I—I…" Naruto tried to speak but couldn't seem to find the words for what she wanted to say. Maybe she didn't have anything to say really but just needed to fill the silence that Konkuro's departure left. Not that silence was a bad thing and really who could call the pounding music that filled the air along with the crowd of people talking in loud voice so that they could be heard above the band silence.

"Okay, look you don't have to do anything about it and you can just forget I said anything and go back to being just friends," Gaara said thinking that Naruto was going to pass out.

"Friends…" Naruto looked up into silver green eyes with a dazed expression that seemed to melt away as she processed the information. "Friends! How am I supposed to treat Sasuke like a _friend_, now? I—I can't just forget this, and really how did he hide it? I mean…"

"Like I said, you're oblivious to the things that are closest to you," Gaara interrupted. He wanted to roll his eyes at the girl but refrained, barely. Seriously, how did Sasuke deal with the girl on a daily basis? Sure, Gaara liked her as a friend but to deal with the stubborn, loud, naïve Naruto would grate on his nerves.

Naruto went quiet again and then in a low voice that Gaara had to strain to hear, "No wonder…"

Naruto was thinking back to all the times that she'd glanced up at Sasuke to see him looking at her with strange expressions ranging from pained, to baffled and even once or twice Sasuke looking at her with a hungry expression that made her think of Kiba's dog, Akamaru, waiting for a treat.

"Um, I've gotta go and…" she trailed off, standing and looking around the immediate area.

"Naruto--" Gaara stopped as the girl raced away into the crowd. He sat back in his seat and folded his arms across his chest in contemplation. He hoped that Sasuke didn't upset the blond girl further.

He sighed inwardly expression unreadable by those around him but Konkuro had known Gaara all of his life and when he looked like that it didn't bode well for the object of Gaara's thoughts. Konkuro remembered the last time that Gaara had looked like that, the man had found himself on the wrong end of a rope hanging over a 10 story building secured to the railing while Gaara stood next to it with a kunai demanding that he apologize to their sister, Temari, for breaking up with her. The man had been twenty at the time and Gaara fifteen. In the end, the guy had delivered a blubbering apology, and Temari decided that anyone who couldn't stand up to her littlest brother didn't deserve her attention.

"So," Konkuro started as he sat down next to the red head, "is Sasuke going to live?"

"I haven't decided yet. But if I do, I'm thinking that a trip to the dessert is in order, being buried alive would do him a lot of good."

Konkuro laughed but without any really humor at the threat, knowing that Gaara was being serious.

Naruto pushed her way through the dancers and out into the more open spaces of the park. She noticed that several darkened corners were now occupied with oddly shaped, writhing shadows that she didn't want to get any closer to inspect. She took stock of the people that weren't hidden and felt her heart hammer painfully when she didn't see Sasuke.

Maybe he had gone to the bathroom. She moved in that direction when she heard a muffled giggle coming from one of the shadows.

"Sasuke…" the low moan floated into her ears and Naruto turned. Amidst the shifting darkness she could make out the dark hair that spiked in the back to form the ruffled feathers of a raven and the pale hand that was currently fisted in the locks.

Naruto clapped a hand to her mouth to hold in the cry that rose to her lips as a knot formed in her stomach. Unable to move she watched the couple in the darkness as two arms wrapped around Sasuke's neck and pulled him closer.

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**A/N: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.....CLIFFHANGER!!!!!! **

**Okay you awesome people, its your turn, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. I'm in a great debate of whether Naruto should have a fight or flight moment but I'll figure it out. I just finished this and wanted to post so I didn't proof read so don't get too mad at me.**

**LOVES and HUGS**

**ZEN  
**


	6. Chapter 6

Emotions were swamping Naruto as she stood in the light and watched as the shadows shifted then another low moan assaulted her ears. She shook her head trying to dispel the illusion that was in front of her but it remained.

"Sasuke," the whisper escaped her as she whirled away and ran.

Sasuke looked up at the noise seeing Naruto racing away he tried to go after her only to be pulled back by clutching hands. Looking back down to the girl who had dragged him into the shadows he snarled into the startled face as he disengaged his body from her groping hands. Pushing her away he stood and straightened the jacket.

"Don't ever touch me again," he bit out harshly causing the girl to tear up but he was past caring. Only one thing was on his mind at that moment; he needed to find Naruto and fast.

"But, Sasuke…" the dark headed girl whined as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Stop, I don't care what your reasons for it were but I don't appreciate being manhandled by a snotty, little whore." The words again were mean and he turned on his heel striding down in the direction that he'd seen Naruto run.

_Shit!_ He thought. He couldn't imagine what Naruto had seen but it must have been bad to have caused her to run. He reached the dance area where couples were taking the opportunity to get as close to their partners as possible and still have clothes on. He glanced around hoping to spot Naruto but instead he saw a glaring red head coming towards him.

_Shit!_

"Where is Naruto?" Gaara asked as he halted in front of Sasuke and folded his arms.

"I don't know and I need to find her," Sasuke imitated the position, his chin rose a fraction showing that he wasn't going to give way to the red head.

"I told her about how you felt and she went to find you," Gaara stated. "I take it she did, find you that is."

"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL, GAARA?" Sasuke yelled. The raised Uchiha voice startled several of the students around them and they backed away giving the two room if they were going to come to blows. "You had no right to interfere with things!"

"I had every right to help my friend when I knew that you weren't going to do it!"

"Shit, why didn't you just shoot me in the back? It would have hurt Naruto a lot less than finding me being groped by some half grown slut!"

Gaara fell silent for a moment as he absorbed the information. "So you didn't initiate the moment?'

"Hell no, what do you take me for, a two timing bastard?" Sasuke shoved a frustrated hand through his dark lock and shook his head.

"You don't want to know what I take you for, Uchiha. Naruto deserved to know how you felt about her otherwise it was going to blow up in both of your faces."

"What the hell do you call this? It has blown up in our faces and you helped!"

"I didn't expect you to be tossing about in the bushed like some trollop!"

"Trollop? You're calling me a trollop?" Sasuke nearly laughed at that before spinning around and marching away to try and find Naruto.

Naruto raced through the park dodging people who shouted at her as she nearly bowled them over. She didn't really pay attention to which way that she went she just needed to get away, to be alone. Tears blurred her vision and she swiped angrily at them. She stumbled through a hedge opening and away from the sounds of merriment only to hit a hard surface.

Hand grasped her upper arms keeping her upright as she lurched backward off balance and dizzy from her headlong flight.

"Naruto?"

She recognized the voice and looked up into Itachi's face in surprise.

"I—Itachi? W—What are y—you doing here?" She asked confusion clouding her eyes.

"Mom…uh…she asked me to keep an eye on the party to make sure that it didn't get out of hand since there wasn't going to be any adults around," Itachi said sheepishly with a shrug. He noticed the tear tracks and the glowing wet eyes. "Naruto, what's the matter, why are you crying?"

Naruto pulled away as horror washed through her and then she ducked her head so that he couldn't see her misery. "Nothing, I—I…" She couldn't think of a good enough reason that would make her cry.

"Come on, let go over here and sit down, where we can talk." He pulled her to a bench that was ten feet away from the bench. He sat and drew her down next to him and she limply allowed him to guide her unable to fight.

She didn't know what she wanted to do at that moment. She wanted to yell and scream but at the same time she wanted to run away and hide in a dark corner where no one could find her. She was angry at Sasuke for allowing that girl to touch him and she was angry with herself for not seeing what was in front of her. She was hurt that Sasuke hadn't told her how he felt and ached (crazily) because she wasn't able to be his first kiss. She now wanted their relationship to be deeper but at the same time she didn't want to loose what she already had gained with Sasuke.

She was his best friend and he was her best friend. They looked out for each other, comforted each other, stuck together, and confided in each other, or at least she confided in him. She felt her eyes sting again. She didn't want to loose him as her friend but there were too many 'what ifs'.

"Tell me what Sasuke has done," Itachi said drawing her attention back to him.

"H—How did you know it was Sasuke, I mean it could be any number of people."

"I may need glasses to read, but I can see what is in front of me. The only reason you would be this upset is because Sasuke has done something to cause it." Itachi knew the two really well having been an observer for most of their lives.

"I…he…we…" She broke off trying to think of what to tell him that wouldn't sound so stupid to her ears. "Sasuke…"

"You found out that Sasuke liked you, didn't you," Itachi asked.

"Yes, no…I don't know, I was going to ask him but I…He was occupied with something else so I didn't get the chance," Naruto said in a rush and the knot in her stomach tightened.

"Occupied? Was he with another girl?"

Naruto nodded but couldn't say anything as her throat closed on a fresh wave of anger and hurt mixed together.

_How could he?! _ Her mind was screaming irrationally. While the more rational thoughts were saying, _We didn't have a claim on him. He can do what he wishes without needing to ask us for permission._

_But he likes us! Likes, likes the more intimate kind of likes, so how could he go off and kiss someone else?!_

"Ah," was all that Itachi said as he placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. Her slight body was warm against his side and his evil little mind began to think of a devious plan. _Now, how to get Naruto to follow along with it?_

"Naruto…You know that Sasuke gets…jealous…really easily, don't you?" Itachi began trying to sound more that a little hesitant.

Naruto looked up at him with a frown on her face. "What do you mean?"

Itachi held the snicker at bay and tried for a thoughtful look instead. "He gets more than a little annoyed whenever I touch you and rushes you out of the room and back up to his at those times."

Naruto remembered the occasions he was talking about so she nodded.

"Well, he is driven by jealousy at those times and it because he doesn't like the fact that you pay more attention to me than to him when we're in the same room."

"You make me nervous," Naruto confessed. "I'm reminded of a snake pursuing a mouse when you're around."

"Ouch! Really?"

She nodded.

"I guess that puts me in my place. But I have a point here. If you and I were to…get caught in an intimate embrace then Sasuke is sure to act on his jealousy and he'd drag you off to be alone. Then you can confess your feelings for him and confront him with his!" Itachi finished laying out the basic plan.

"That is the stupidest thing that I've ever heard!" Naruto nearly shouted as she stood and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Firstly, those kinds of things never work out and Secondly…Its…Its just plain wrong!"

"I agree."

At the new voice, Naruto spun around with a gasp, clapping a hand to her mouth. Sasuke stood not more than five feet from them. She stared at the boy with wide blue orbs.

Sasuke made it a point to ignore the frozen vixen for the moment and glared at his brother who had been planning a devious trick behind his back.

"What are you doing here, Itachi?"

"Mom sent me to keep an eye on the party…"

"Bull shit! Mom trusts us to keep things in line so the question remains what are you doing here?" Sasuke moved closer and drew Naruto behind his back.

"Ah, well, you see, I was hoping to get Naruto alone so that I could find a…"

"I don't want to hear it," Sasuke ground out knowing exactly what Itachi had planned for Naruto. "I would suggest that you leave now and don't even think about coming near Naruto again. She doesn't understand your games."

"Apparently, she doesn't understand yours as well," Itachi sneered before standing and disappearing into the darkness.

Sasuke turned to face Naruto. She looked up at him with hurt eyes and it made him even more frustrated.

"Do you like Itachi?"

"What?" Naruto asked confused.

"Do…You…Like…Itachi, Naruto?" Sasuke reiterated, his voice growing angrier by the moment.

"No."

"Then stay away from him and quit looking at him." Sasuke grabbed her hand to lead her back to the party.

Naruto dug in her heels and refused to budge. Sasuke sighed and turned around to face her.

"Why?"

"'Why' What? You need to be clear when you ask something," Sasuke lectured.

"You know 'what', don't treat me like an imbecile!" Naruto stamped her foot in irritation at the way Sasuke was acting. "Why didn't you tell me?" She felt the tears again and her hands clenched at her sides.

"Why should I have? I didn't want to feel those things, especially towards you!"

"Wh—What?" she whispered. Surely, she'd heard wrong, he couldn't have meant them.

"Kami! Naruto, you're my best friend and I didn't, don't want to ruin what we have with sloppy wants and emotions. I like that fact that we can hang out without lust clouding our friendship! I like that I don't have to hide my feelings from you and that you don't cling to me like some of the fangirls with whining about me not paying attention to them or some other stupid crap." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair.

"H—How can you say that our relationship would change when you won't even give it a chance. And I really can't see myself clinging to you and whining about wanting flowers or some other stupid thing, can you?"

Naruto latched onto his arm and dropped to her knees. "Sasuke, oh, Sasuke will you please go to the school dance with me?" she said in high falsetto while rapidly blinking her eyes up at him in adoration. "Oh! Sasuke you're so manly I bet you can run like the wind, you should be on the track team! Oh Sasuke you're so strong…Can you help me with my locker, it's stuck again!"

She dropped his hand and stood up looking at him in expectation while he stared at her in horror at the reminders of all the times things like that had happened. She put her hand on her hips and cocked her head to the side.

"Can you really see me doing that?"

Sasuke shook himself out of his horrific reverie and shook his head slowly before he began to chuckle. "No, no I can really say that no, I can't see you doing those things."

"I really don't know how I feel towards you but I know I don't want to loose you as my best friend either. But knowing that you feel differently towards me has given me a new perspective that…that I want to explore…Um, does that make any sense?" She asked. Sasuke could see the questions that were bouncing around inside her head and for the life of him; he couldn't suppress his own feelings any longer.

He pulled Naruto into his arms and hugged her tightly as he buried his face into her neck. "Shit!" He groaned. Then quickly before he could think better of it, he pulled back and pressed his lips to hers.

Naruto was startled when her whole vision was taken up with Sasuke's face and she felt his lips on hers. Her brain when into overload and shut down and all she could do was feel. His lips were soft and warm slowly relaxing into her before she felt the damp moistness of his tongue as it darted out to taste her. He began to move shifting his head back and forth so that he brushed against her lips and his tongue swiped across her for another taste then urging her to allow him access into her mouth.

She gasped granting him entry while her body seemed to be flooded with feelings and goose bumps erupted along her flesh. Sasuke licked at her tongue them moved to explore the inside of her cheeks, teeth and tonsils all the while Naruto clung to his shoulders and whimpered sexy little sounds that drove him insane.

He pulled her even closer and slid his thigh between hers feeling the heat even through all the layers of her dress. His hands found the bare flesh of her back and shoulders, caressing it and feeling the silky smoothness of it. He marveled at the difference in texture from his own skin to hers. And the heat that gripped him for the first time.

Naruto was lost in the feel of Sasuke, the warmth that seeped into her chilled skin, and the pleasure that he was giving her. His mouth left her to trail along her jaw to the sensitive nerves just under her ear and she shuddered involuntarily gasping as lightening jolted through her.

"Sa—Sasuke…"

"Na…ru…to," Sasuke sighed as he licked the lobe of her ear and was rewarded with a breathless moan. He pulled back from the temptation that Naruto had become. He waited for her eyes to open then he gazed down into them with one of his rare smiles seeing the hazy expression.

"Let's go back and make sure that Gaara isn't planning on burying me alive," he took her hand and pulled her back through the opening of the hedge.

"Sasuke! Why did you leave me?' the dark haired girl who'd assaulted him from before shouted with a wave.

"Damn!" Sasuke muttered as he tried to get Naruto moving but she had other ideas.

"Who is that? I don't recognize her."

"I don't know her name."

That surprised Naruto. "You don't know her name and yet you were kissing her?"

"She was kissing me, let's just get that straight right now, there is a difference. And no, I don't know who she is."

Naruto narrowed her eyes at him at his tone but she turned her attention to the girl who was stumbling toward them clearly having indulged in some alcohol.

"Oh, Sasuke," the girl whined when she caught up with them.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded stepping in front of Sasuke and keeping him out of reach of the woman.

"I'm Ami, and who are you?" The dark haired girl looked from Naruto to Sasuke in confusion.

"I'm Naruto."

"Oh, you're the girl that was thrown away and just hangs around Sasuke because he pities you," Ami said.

"I don't remember inviting you to my party so I suggest that you gather your things and leave," Naruto said ignoring the insult that the girl had just dealt her.

"You're not in charge of this party, you can't tell me what to do!" Ami cried out.

Naruto moved in quick secession sliding behind the girl and gripping her arm, pulling it back into an awkward and painful position that caused the girl to screech.

"Fine, Ami have it your way. Who invited you?" Naruto's voice had slipped into low tones which had Sasuke shivering. He knew that Naruto was coming close to snapping and causing permanent injury to anyone who got in her way.

"I—Ino."

"Are you her friend?"

"Let…Ow, ow, ow…yes!"

"Did Ino tell you whose party you were going to?"

"Yes, but I didn't pay attention. I'd heard that Sasuke would be here so I came."

"Who gave you the beer?"

"D—don't know! Ow! Okay, okay…R—Raidoue! He has a keg in the back of his truck!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke who nodded. He headed in the direction of the parking lot while Naruto pushed her captive in the direction that she had last seen Ino, the dance floor. The area was packed with more kids and Naruto searched the crowd for the Ino's light blond head. She spotted the girl at the other end of the area along with Sakura and Lee.

Gaara appeared at her side.

"Naruto, are you okay?" he asked quietly making sure that the girl that Naruto was holding couldn't hear him.

"Yes," Naruto assured with a small blush which caused Gaara to smirk at.

"Good. Now what's going on here?"

"Oh, we're about to establish that this is my party and I can kick whoever I want to out."

"Ah."

"Ino!"

Ino looked up expectantly then frowned at seeing Naruto guiding Ami along with her arm pulled behind her.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

"Hey, Ino, sorry to disrupt you but do you know this girl?"

Confused Ino looked between the dark haired girl and Naruto. "Yeah, this is Ami. She's in Healthy Living with me and Sakura."

"Did you invite her to the party?"

"Well, yeah. She over heard us talking about it and asked if she could come too. I didn't think that you would mind." Ino was now staring at Ami. "What did she do?"

"Oh, not much. She's been drinking and groping Sasuke and…"

"Groping Sasuke!" Ino's feature turned hard as she looked at Ami then turned to surprise as something else registered and she turned to Naruto. "Who told you?"

"Who? Ah, you mean about Sasuke?"

Ino nodded.

"Gaara."

"What did you do?" Ino's voice was beginning to get higher in excitement.

"Never mind that," Naruto said with a blush that caused Ino to jump up and down. "I just need you to tell Ami here that this _is_ my party and that she needs to leave."

"But…" Ami began in protest only to be silenced by Ino.

"Ami, I think that you've done enough damage at Naruto's birthday party for one night so it would be in your best interest to go home. Or I will let Mrs. Langly know that you cheated on the art history exam last week."

"Hey," Ami squealed in protest, "I did not cheat!"

"You know that and I know that but…Mrs. Langly doesn't and it's your word against mine." Ino threatened.

Ami gaped in a fish like manner before deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble and agreeing to leave. Naruto let go of the wrist that she'd been holding and the girl disappeared.

"Thanks, Ino," Naruto said with a small smile.

"Now, Naruto, you have to tell me what happened!" Ino said grabbing her arm and pulling her to an empty table.

Unable to think of a way to get away from Ino, Naruto sat next to her.

"Well, I was…"

"Shocked, surprised, relived?" Gaara supplied. Naruto had nearly forgotten that he was there but now she turned to glare at him.

"I'm telling this! Now…" Naruto settled in and told Ino what had happened. Ino was a good audience as she gasped in outrage at the appropriate parts. Naruto deliberately left out the kiss but explained that Sasuke had agreed to let them explore this new piece of their relationship.

"Oh, Naruto!" Ino squealed in happiness as she leaned forward and hugged the girl. "I've got to go tell Sakura!" She jumped up and ran off to find her best friend.

Watching Ino run off, she shook her head slowly at the abruptness of Ino's departure.

"So, he kissed you didn't he?" Gaara said bringing Naruto's attention back to him.

"I didn't say that!" she exclaimed blushing hotly.

Gaara smirked at her as he settled back into his seat and crossed his arms. "You don't need to that blush is saying it all."

"Saying what?"

Sasuke had returned.

"Saying that you kissed her," Gaara answered.

"Ah," Sasuke's lips quirked into his own smirk as he surveyed the tomato red face Naruto now sported. Gaara looked on in smug satisfaction feeling that he'd accomplished an S-ranked mission with great success.

"Well, did Raidoue have a keg?" Naruto demanded trying to get their attention off of her and onto something more important.

"He did."

"And…?"

"And he's gone."

Naruto was growing frustrated at the lack of details and was standing up to smack Sasuke when he grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the dance floor.

"Let's dance."

They spent the rest of the evening together, dancing, breaking up fights (mostly the ones that Kiba started) and mingling with the crowd. Around two the crowd had left and they spent the next hour cleaning up.

"Hey!" Sakura called coming up to them along with Hinata and Shino.

"W-Why don't y-you go on h-home and let us t-take c-care of the c-clean up," Hinata suggested.

"It's your birthday," Shino said by way of explanation.

"Well, alright, if you're sure you don't mind," Naruto said hesitantly as she looked around at the mess.

"We wouldn't have suggested it otherwise," Sakura said with her hand on her hips.

"We'd better go," Sasuke said drawing Naruto away from the group.

He lead her back through the park occasionally stopping and telling their friends good night and then finally reaching the nearly empty parking lot and the car. Sasuke held the door in gentlemanly fashion, helping Naruto in, and making sure that her dress wasn't in the way before he closed the door and went to his side.

They drove through deserted streets back to her apartment; Naruto fell asleep before they had even left the parking lot.

Sasuke kept darting looks to the sleeping girl. He'd basically agreed that they would begin dating and see where their relationship would go, and he felt small pangs of regret which were quickly overshadowed with relief and excitement. Relief that he didn't have to hide his feelings or make up stupid reasons when she caught him looking at her with longing or lust, and excitement because if that kiss was any indication their new relationship was going to be full of fireworks. He smiled at that thought. Well, it was already full of sparks and hidden bombs, just dodging her fiery temper was enough to keep him on his toes.

They reached her apartment before he was ready and he reluctantly reached over to shake her awake.

Blue eyes opened slowly and smiled at him causing his heart to accelerate and muscles low in his belly to clench in need.

"We're home," he said softly the leaned back as she sat up.

"Already?" she asked and he heard the same regret at the night being over in her voice that he'd felt.

"Yes."

He opened his door, got out and strode around to her door allowing her to stand. He took her hand and led her up to the apartment door and paused outside.

"Thank you, Sasuke," Naruto said feeling a new awkwardness that stemmed from not knowing what to do in this situation. She looked up shyly into his eyes and then back down to his chest.

Sasuke looked down at the top of Naruto's blond head, his lips curving upwards. He reached out and cupped her face in his drawing it up to look at him. Then he slowly lowered his watching her the whole time before his lips settled onto hers in a gentle, reassuring kiss.

Naruto's arms slid around his neck as she melted into the tender kiss, allowing him to slowly explore her mouth while licking at the tongue that invaded. This kiss was different from the urgent one of earlier. It was in turns a promise and calming kiss that allayed her fears and caused little embers to flare up.

Sasuke pulled her firmly into his arms before changing the kiss to a more demanding heated kiss. Licking around her mouth and drawing little mewling sounds from her.

The light of the porch turning on, the door abruptly opening, along with the blinding flash of the camera made them spring apart. They turned and looked into Kakashi's grinning face.

"Ahh…" he said as he looked at the two. "Your first kiss! Iruka is going to be so…hmm, what's the word I'm looking for…angry!"

Iruka swung the door open wider and looked at the pair. He reached out and pulled Naruto into the apartment, glared at Sasuke, and then slammed the door in his face.

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**A/N: Part 2 is complete! Hurray! I wanted to get this out earlier but experienced a small writers block at about half way through. but I stumbled through and i hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Very little proofreading so I'm sorry about any mistakes in grammar or spelling but my reviewers demanded that I update quickly.**

**Thanks everyone who's reviewed You guys are so awesome! and thanks to those who have read the story and updated! Nope, i'm not done yet so stay turned for the next chapter. but I have a feeling that I probably won't be able to update until next week sometime. Weekends are just plan impossible to work during because everyone is home and wanting to distract me.**

**HUGS**

**ZEN  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I guess that since I promised most of my reviewers that I would try and get this out on Tuesday, I should keep my promise. It's taken me six and a half hours to write this new chapter and no I haven't edited it so sorry if there are any grammar errors or spelling errors. And it 3:30 in the morning, thank goodness I don't have to work tomorrow. I put this chapter off because basically I didn't know where to go from here and this chapter was hard to start but once I started it it just developed on its own without me. Well, what are you doing sitting there, go on read the darn chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Please, sir, can I have some more? **NO, You only get one helping. **But...** No you can have more Naruto you don't own him! :( *cries in corner, heartbroken*

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Naruto looked up from filling her umpteenth mocha decafé latte with cinnamon sprinkles when she heard the bell ring above the door. Sigh with fatigue she placed the paper cup on the counter for the customer then went back to fill another order. Her shoulders were drooping and her feet ached but she still had another hour to go before the double shift that she had pulled was over.

"Naruto?"

Hearing a familiar voice she glanced over her shoulder then did a double take. Itachi was standing at the counter with a small smile of greeting on his lips. She hadn't seen him since the night of her sixteenth birthday a year and nine months ago. He'd moved to Germany a week after that night.

"Itachi! Wow, are you back from Germany?"

She studied him as she filled the order. His black hair was longer and pulled back into a ponytail and he was wearing a black trench coat even though it was the end of July and the weather was above one hundred degrees. But from this distance she could see lines of fatigue and exhaustion marring the handsome features.

"Yes," he simply said returning the once over.

She put the coffee on the counter then waved to the manager as she stepped out to speak to Itachi while she had a brief break. She really couldn't understand why people wanted hot coffee on such a hot day, the iced cappuccinos she could get but hot coffee? Go figure.

She hugged Itachi but immediately put some distance between then as soon as the greeting was over. He grimaced but let her go.

"What are you doing here? Are you staying for a while?" She talked while she drew him towards an empty table away from the other customers.

"I'm here for a meeting with the company heads on the expansion into Japan. But I'll be here for a while it seems until the plans are ironed out and for the next however many months, I'll be flying back and forth from here to Japan." Itachi explained as he settled into the chair.

"Oh! Hey, did you want some coffee?" she asked remembering her job and where she was.

"Yes, that's why I stopped in," he said with a grin.

"Let me go get it and then we can do some catching up. Um…what would you like?" She'd nearly run off without knowing what he wanted so she felt the heat warm her face.

"Just a large regular coffee, black."

"Alright! I'll be right back," she ran back behind the counter and quickly filled a cup with coffee. She slid the coffee in front of him as she slid into the seat that she'd vacated.

"So what was Germany like? Was it really different? Did you learn any German?" she began shooting questions at him in rapid fire mode until he laughed and held up his hands in surrender.

"Still the same Naruto, wanting to know everything yesterday," he chuckled. "Um, lets see…There are places that are spectacularly beautiful especially when the seasons changed. Yes, it was very different. Und ja erlernte ich etwas Deutsches." (Might not be translated correctly, sorry, I don't know German myself)

"Huh?"

"I said 'yes, I do know some German.'" Itachi's shoulders were shaking as he suppressed the humor that she'd brought out in him. It was a strange feeling and one that had always interested him, the fact that she could pull emotions out of him, his brother, and his father no matter how hard they tried to not to show them. He'd been intrigued by the possessiveness that Sasuke had shown from the beginning and had pushed that button as often as he could and as hard as he could to see how far it went. Even now he was wondering what Sasuke would do or say if he found them together.

"Naruto, why don't you go on home? I'll be able to close up soon and you've pulled a hard day anyways. This way you'll get to talk to your friend." The manager called out waving her off.

"Thanks!" she called out then looked at Itachi.

"How about I walk you home," he offered with a shrug.

"That'd be great but you're going to roast in that coat."

"Ma, I don't feel the heat much anymore."

They walked out the door and up the street toward the residential area of the town. Naruto asked questions and Itachi answered, a true conversation. It was different from the other times that Itachi had spoken with her and she was beginning to feel almost comfortable. Like the snake had given up on the mouse and turned its attention elsewhere.

"So, how have you been?" Itachi asked as he noticed that they were almost to her apartment.

"Well, I've been working for most of the summer trying to save up money. When we graduate, the whole gang is getting together to take a tour of Europe, you know, one of those back packing trips. We're going to start in France and then go through as many of the countries as we can! It's going to be so awesome!" She was nearly hopping on her tip toes in excitement at the plan.

"Wow that sounds like a lot of fun. Is Sasuke going?"

"Well, yeah, it wouldn't be the same without him."

"Are you two still seeing each other?"

Naruto hesitated, the excitement draining from her at the question. She frowned and looked at her hands.

"Um…yes, and no. It's been really hard what with both of us working this summer. I think we've only gotten together three times." She wasn't going to go into the fact that each of those three times had ended up in a fight and Naruto felt the distance growing between them. She didn't understand everything that was happening with their relationship. It seemed to her that Sasuke only hung out with her because he felt it was an obligation and that he truly wished he was somewhere else. He'd been distracted, snappish and tense the whole time they were together and the fights were about petty crap like what movie to watch or where they should eat after words. In the end they hadn't gone to a movie and they didn't go and eat instead they'd just sat in the car in silence until Naruto asked to go home, trying her best to hold back the tears that were threatening.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound good," Itachi said gently putting an arm around her and tucking her close to his side.

"I—I…he doesn't talk to me, tell me what's wrong, and in the end…I'm left wondering if he still wants to be together," Naruto said, Itachi rubbing her arm and giving her comfort as she spoke.

"I'm sure that Sasuke wants to be with you and you guys will work things out," Itachi reassured her. Pulling her to a halt in front of the stairway leading to the upper deck that would take her to her apartment he gave her a gentle hug then let her go.

"Yeah, you're right, Itachi, I'm just making more of this than there actually is," she said mustering up a bright and happy attitude.

Itachi nodded.

"Thanks so much for walking me home and it was so good to see you!"

"You too, Naruto. Now I'd better get home before they begin to think that I don't remember the way." Itachi waved as he turned and walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the Uchiha manor.

愛愛愛愛

Naruto dressed carefully for her date with Sasuke, they were going to try the movies again and she was determined that she wasn't going to bring up anything or way anything that would result in an argument. She was wearing an orange button up shirt with a black sweater over top along with freshly ironed black slacks, black socks and sneakers. She picked a necklace that held three blue crystals from her jewelry box and fastened it around her neck and put on matching earrings. Hearing the doorbell, she checked her appearance in the mirror one last time flicked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear and then went to greet Sasuke.

He stood talking with Kakashi and Iruka, hands tucked traditionally in his front pockets. He was wearing a midnight blue sweater that seemed to enhance his appearance rather than detract from it. Denim jeans hugged the muscles in his legs, muscles that he'd gotten from track and the martial arts programs that he'd been enrolled in since he was in junior high. He cut such a suave image that Naruto's breath hitched in her lungs.

He must have heard her because he turned to look at her with such dark eyes that she felt like she was falling into a black hole. The image swiftly changed when he smiled and the eyes warmed at seeing her. She took a deep breath feeling relief and gave him her brightest smile in return.

"Hi!" She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck giving him a tight hug and feeling it returned as his arms wrapped around her lender figure. She let go and turned to Iruka. Catching the slight frown, she walked up to him and hugged him also.

"You're still my favorite father," she reassured with a whisper in his ear. Iruka squeezed her briefly then let her go with a grunt.

"Of course, I am. Kakashi is a pervert and who wants to hang out with that?" Iruka looked at the other man with a sidelong look.

"You." Kakashi said from his perch on the arm of the chair. He stood up and approached the couple. "So are you going to the movies or should we expect you home in half an hour?"

"Kakashi," Iruka admonished then pulled the man to the kitchen.

Naruto winced invisibly at the reminder of their previous dates. She drew in a breath and turned to Sasuke with determination renewed. She was going to enjoy this evening and get Sasuke to enjoy it even if it killed her. She felt Sasuke approach and looked up. He was smiling soft at her and reached out to take her chin in his hand. He pulled it up and laid a tender kiss on her lips.

"Let' get going before Kakashi decides not to wait for us to depart before he begins molesting Iruka," he suggested stepping back. A low moan from the kitchen told them that it was too late and they quickly left the apartment before they heard anything else.

Naruto allowed Sasuke to guide her down to the car with a hand on the small of her back. His hand felt almost hot even through the two layers of clothing. She could feel the strength in it and wanted to stop and kiss him some more but decided that wouldn't be good cause then they wouldn't get to the movies either.

Sasuke opened the car door of the new jag that his parents had given him when he started working for the company at the beginning of summer. The plush leather seat what she slid into felt sumptuous, like a personally hug and she relaxed partially.

Sasuke came around and slipped into the driver's seat, darkness fell as he closed his door and started the car. He shifted the car into gear and the engine growled throatily as he pulled away from the curb.

"How was work?" Naruto asked quietly. That should be a nice safe subject.

"Busy, and with Itachi home and the meetings…it just been very busy." Sasuke replied keeping his attention on the road.

"Oh."

"Yeah, the company is opening up offices in Japan and Itachi's playing liaison since his Japanese is better than anyone else's."

"Well, that's good," Naruto said. She didn't know why but she was keeping the fact that she knew Itachi was home to herself.

"What have you been doing?"

"Well, today, I ended up pulling a double shift because Kiba called in sick."

"Really? I saw Kiba having lunch with Hinata. They were at the same restaurant I was at while on break."

"I kind of suspected that he wasn't really sick, but its okay it just gets me closer to that trip to Europe."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. "I won't be able to go with you," he said evenly.

"What? Why not?" Naruto was stunned as she stared at him in confusion. Sasuke wouldn't be going? Then who was she going to hang out with?

"My father wants the family to go to Japan when things are finally settled and thinks that next summer would be the perfect time to visit the new offices and make sure that they're running efficiently."

Naruto suppressed the anger that was beginning to simmer and turned to look out the front windshield. She swallowed several times and regained her composure.

"It won't be any fun without you," Naruto began.

"I still want you to go," Sasuke said glancing at her. He had heard the sadness in her voice and thought that she wouldn't go without him. He wanted her to have fun whether it was with him or not.

These past couple of weeks had worked him over. He'd known that he was being a bastard towards her when they were together but he wasn't able to keep from snapping at her. He'd grown frustrated with some of the work and he'd taken it out on her several times and he regretted them. He'd started this night wanting make things right, wanting to relax and just be with someone who didn't demand all of his attention. He hadn't meant to reveal tonight that he wouldn't be going to Europe with her and the gang but it had slipped out.

He'd seen the hurt and anger in her face but she hadn't let it ruin their night and he was even more determined that they would have a good time tonight. Especially since the next few weeks until school started were going to be much more erratic and busy. As exhausting as the previous weeks were he was planning that the next weeks were going to be down right hell and he wouldn't be able to see Naruto or even talk to her except for brief calls between meetings or late at night. He now knew the reason that his father had an office at home and spent a large amount of time in it.

The reached the theater before they knew it and Sasuke left the car to stride around and help Naruto out. He took her hand and they walked to the doors companionable. There was an older couple in front of them. The man had to be at least in his early sixties and the woman not much younger than him. Their arms were entwined and the woman laid her head on the shoulder of the man walking into the theater. The lights flashed briefly showing the sweet happiness in the woman's face and the contentment in the older man's gaze as they purchased their tickets. Sasuke wondered if he and Naruto would be like that when they were the same age.

"Two tickets to 'The Long Road Home,'" Sasuke said when it was their turn. The ticket attendant handed them two orange tickets which were taken from them at the entrance to the movie itself. The theater was divided into four sections with a main lobby to purchase popcorn and drinks. Sasuke purchased a small bag of popcorn and two waters for them before leading Naruto to seats at the back of the theater.

They'd decided before hand which movie to watch and what they were going to get so that they didn't end up arguing about it. They'd also planned out the rest of the night, which restaurant they were going to, and what time they would get home. He hadn't wanted to take any chances with the night and it had sounded like Naruto didn't either.

While they waited for the movie to start they munched on popcorn and sipped at their drinks talking about small things like what their friends were getting up to during the summer. Kiba was spending a lot of time at the Hyuuga manor with Hinata. Ino was growing more and more frustrated with Shikamaru since he still hadn't asked her out. Chouji, for some unknown reason, was currently camping with Shino's family. Sakura was working and missing Lee, who was at a training camp. Neji was keeping an eye on his cousin while working with his uncle at U Tech, the Uchiha's company. Tenten had been accepted into a dance company and was on a brief tour for the summer.

"Oh, and Ino is planning on having a pool party just before school starts. She's been planning it all summer with Sakura and it's supposed to be the event of the year, according to Ino," Naruto said as the lights dimmed and they settled back in their seats to watch the previews. Sasuke put an arm around Naruto and drew her to him and smiled as Naruto's head tucked under his against his chest. He wished that there wasn't an armrest between them then he could probably have pulled her into his lap, maybe he should suggest that when the theater decided to remodel that they put in couches instead of the hard theater seats. He smiled at the image of the old couple snuggling together on a couch to watch a movie at the theater; it was such a vivid image that he was surprised when it changed to one of him and Naruto at that age.

It wasn't the movie itself that Sasuke wanted to see it was the fact that he could be with Naruto and relax that had been the main attraction. Usually he hated theaters and the crowds that were drawn to them; he hadn't really understood the concept of seeing something with tons of people around you when you could just wait a few months and the movie would be out on video and you could watch it in the comfort of your own home. But since he'd been dating Naruto he'd adjusted his thinking. Depending on the movie, he'd get different reactions out of Naruto. Scary movies would make Naruto practically crawl into his lap and hold him tightly. Comedies brought out her laughter and he'd enjoyed that a lot. Action movies would have her on the edge of her seat and extremely talkative afterwards. And the romantic movies relaxed her and made her cuddly. He'd also learned to avoid the sad dramas as well because he couldn't stand to see the tears in her eyes and he would end up pulling her into him and comforting her.

He was nearly asleep by the time the movie ended and he lethargically pulled Naruto to her feet and beat a hasty retreat before the theater became jam packed with people wanting to leave and others wanting to come in.

They drove to a small restaurant close to Naruto's home and had a light meal talking quietly about the movie or just enjoying each other company in silence. The atmosphere was pleasant and lulled them into a calm state, with the smells of good food, dim lighting and candles on the tables. Music floated from hidden speakers nearby and the room hummed with voice talking lowly.

Sasuke took Naruto home afterwards knowing that he had to get up early in the morning so he couldn't spend more time with her. He shut of the engine and they sat for a few minutes in the darkness before Sasuke spoke.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you knew Itachi was home?" Sasuke had tried to keep the words to himself all night but now he needed to know.

"I…"

"He said that he saw you at the coffee shop and you two talked for a minute, but you didn't say anything when I mentioned him earlier tonight." Sasuke pressed his lips together and watched the emotions play over her face. He recognized several, uncertainty being the predominant emotion that kept flickering through her eyes.

"I don't know. I guess it's because I didn't know how you would react…" She looked back at him trying to gage his won emotions but he had his stoic mask back in place.

"I want you to stay away from him," Sasuke finally said, his voice hard and uncompromising.

"What? What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "He came in for coffee. He didn't know that I was working there and we talked about Germany and you."

"I don't care, just stay away from Itachi."

"Are you saying that you don't trust me when he's around?"

"I don't trust him, where you're concerned." Frustration was growing in Sasuke and he didn't want to have to explain every detail to Naruto in order for her to understand. "Look, I don't want to spend the rest of the night explaining. Just. Stay. Away. From. Him, okay."

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, Sasuke. I do understand basic concepts like jealousy," Naruto said sarcastically.

"God, dammit Naruto. I'm not jealous of Itachi," Sasuke gritted out feeling the mounting anger.

"Don't swear at me."

Sasuke duck his head his hand pushing through the locks then fisted as he took a couple of deep breaths.

"Sasuke," Naruto said quietly trying to regain the mood that they'd had earlier. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get upset and alright, I'll stay away from Itachi."

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke said raising his head. "Look, I'm just really tired and stressed. There's a lot going on at work and I won't be able to see you until things are resolved, which won't be until after school starts. After that I've got to concentrate on my school work since this is a very critical year for me, so that I can get into the college on my choice and I'll still be working at the company after school and on the weekends. Maybe…" He halted the words that were about to leave his lips, thinking hard but coming up with only one conclusion.

"Maybe?" Naruto whispered already knowing what he was about to do. And dreading it but also dreading the silence that was filling up the car without him speaking.

"Maybe…we should call it quits for now."

There they were. Naruto went numb hearing them. They were the words that she'd feared since talking with Itachi. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on the door handle opening the car, but before getting out she closed her eyes and nodded. Quickly before the tears could well up and be seen, Naruto exited the car and ran up the stairs and into the apartment not stopping until she reached her room. She closed the door and locked it falling across the bed as sobs welled up in her chest. She ignored the knock on her door unable to have anyone see her heartbreak.

愛愛愛愛

Naruto stayed in her room for the next few days. Iruka would bring her small things to snack on though she ate very little of what he brought. Each time he could see the tear tracks that ran down her face with each visit and he grew more and more concerned for her health. She was pale and loosing weight, not to mention that she slept most of the time away huddled into a small ball. He'd called Kiba and asked him to cover Naruto shifts at work telling him that she wasn't feeling well.

When Naruto emerged on the fourth day, she was lethargic and drained even after all the time she'd spent crying. When questioned, she answered but there wasn't any emotion behind the replies, even Kakashi was looking at her worriedly. She functioned but it was like watching a puppet that only moved or spoke when a string was pulled. Otherwise Naruto didn't do anything.

She sat on the couch watching what they watched. During meals, she moved the food around her plate but very little was consumed. She went to work but ended up being sent home because the manager still thought she was ill and not ready to come back to work. Iruka ended up telling her boss that Naruto wouldn't be coming back to work the rest of the summer.

Days passed then weeks and still Naruto didn't improve. She didn't attend Ino's party or any of the other festivities that she'd been invited to. Then school started.

愛愛愛愛

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto looked up from her locker into the shocked gaze of Kiba. She finished putting her books into the locker before nodding at him in acknowledgement. Kiba came to a halt beside her leaning a shoulder against the wall of lockers as he studied her openly.

"You must have been really sick," he said seeing the changes in her. She was a lot thinner than when he'd last seen her and she was extremely pale. He wondered if she was still sick and what it could be. The clothes that fit her when she bought them were now hanging on her and her normally bright and shiny hair was dull and stringy. She wasn't wearing makeup and the three symmetrical lines on her cheeks were standing out in sharp relief. They normally could hardly be seen, even though he'd teased her about them when they were in grammar school.

"Hn." That was the only reply Kiba got and he blinked.

"Okay, who the hell are you and what have you done with Naruto," Kiba demanded taking a step back from the girl. This definitely wasn't the Naruto he knew, the bouncy, bubbly blonde.

"Funny," Naruto finally spoke. She pulled a notebook from the locker along with a text and pen before shutting the locker.

"Seriously, Naruto what's wrong?" Concern was mounting in Kiba at the dead look that was in Naruto's eyes.

"Nothing." Naruto pushed past him and walked away.

"Hey, Kiba. Was that Naruto?" Ino asked coming up to the feral boy, Shikamaru at her side.

"Yeah, but something is seriously wrong," Kiba said watching the girl walk down the hall until she disappeared around the corner.

"Sasuke broke up with her," Shikamaru said in sympathy. "It's troublesome." He grimaced at the smack Ino gave him before capturing her hand and pulling it to his lips. She looked up in surprise watching him lay a kiss on her knuckles her breath leaving her in a huff as warmth suffused her.

"Shit, you've got to be kidding me!" Kiba exclaimed turning to the pair. "What the hell is he thinking?"

Shikamaru shrugged, he had his theories but he wasn't going to say anything until they were confirmed. He wasn't a gossip and he wasn't going to spread any rumors, let the common folk think what they like and draw their own conclusions.

"Hey, guys, I just saw Naruto. Do you think that she's sick?" Sakura asked, her arm looped through Lee's.

"Sasuke broke up with her," Ino told her friend they shared a look that caused the boys to roll their eyes.

"Oh my god," Sakura whispered. "Oh, poor Naruto."

Everyone's reaction was the same throughout the day as they were informed of the situation. They met up at the usual spot for lunch waiting for the pair but neither showed up, they were informed that Sasuke wouldn't be to school until the following week and Naruto had been called into the nurse's office because the teachers were concerned that she was sick. The nurse did a thorough exam but didn't find anything really wrong with her and just told her to eat more before letting Naruto back to class.

Kiba caught up with her outside of her last class just after the bell rang, Hinata by his side.

"Hey, Naruto, mind if we walk you home," Kiba asked. His worry had driven him to drastic measures.

"Fine," Naruto responded without really looking at them.

"H-How are y-you feeling, Naruto?" Hinata asked. This was the first time that she'd seen Naruto and she could now see why her boyfriend was so concerned about the girl.

"I'm feeling good," Naruto said. Again these were automatic responses and they didn't really give anything away. Hinata was extremely good at reading beneath what was said which had made her an asset to her father many times. She could see that physically Naruto wasn't eating which told her that she was still hurting from being rejected by Sasuke. That the hurt went much deeper than most and cause Hinata's own heart to ache for the girl. This was one of the times that she wished she had Naruto's ability to make people feel good, to feel comfortable for who they were.

Hinata didn't know what to tell Naruto that would make things at least a little better. She was to shy to try and confront the girl about Sasuke and ask what had happened. She also knew from the current condition that Naruto was in that she would just deny that anything was wrong. All she could do was pray that Naruto would get better. But she did know one person who could talk to Naruto and get some answers. Hinata made a mental note to make that call when she got home.

愛愛愛愛

Naruto sat in the driver's seat of the jag driving along the winding road. The canyon was dark and the lights were on bright though they did little good in the narrow confines, just flashing along the cliffs on either side of the car. The cliffs were a deep red orange with small clearings when the mountains ended and another began. These clearing were filled with trees struggling to grown amidst the boulders and scrub brush. Occasionally the lights would find the eyes of the nocturnal animals, such as rabbits and the rare fox.

Music played through the car lulling her into a false sense of security and she relaxed back against the leather as she drove. The adrenaline that had been swamping her system from earlier was wearing off allowing the exhaustion to creep in but she ignored it knowing that home was only thirteen miles away. She reached out and grabbed the water bottle from where she'd placed it in the cup holder, uncapped it, and took a long swallow of the cold liquid feeling it revive her for a moment. She put the cap back on it with a brief wish that she could dump it over her head but refrained because the car was still new.

Opening the window helped to keep the lethargy at bay and she sighed with the breeze that whipped over her, brushing through the thick locks of hair, which whipped the black strands into her eyes. Momentarily confusion drift through Naruto's head but was cleared even before a thought fully formed. Naruto glanced up at the night sky through the windshield taking her eyes from the road just for and instant to enjoy the stars that shone brightly against the background of velvet blackness.

With eyes back on the road he saw that the canyon was nearly over and the down hill decent into Konoha began. The road leveled off at the top and Naruto eager to get home increase her speed slightly letting the car shoot forward now able to see more of the landscape in front of her.

The road still wound around curves and through trees and scrub but the land was more open. Caution leaked through and Naruto took her foot of the gas to slow the car to a more intelligent speed. She was looking forward to Monday, and being back in school. She'd found out a few hours ago that she wouldn't be working as much as she'd thought which meant that…

The head light caught the shadowy outline of something large and moving. The light reflected the eyes briefly before she swerved and…

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**A/N: *laughs evilly* since I don't own Naruto, I get to torture poor fans instead! Mwahahahaha! **

**So let me know what you think of the story, by leaving a review or sending a PM to me. Goodnight!**

**ZEN  
**


	8. Chapter 8

"Sasuke!"

The scream that rang through the apartment brought Iruka and Kakashi out of a sound sleep. Kakashi sat there and blinked trying to figure out what was happening while Iruka leaped out of bed and pulled his robe one even as he sprinted out of the room. He ran down the hallway with his heart hammering in his chest scared of what he'd find.

He skidded to a halt in front of the door and set a hand on the knob only to find that it was locked. Naruto had taken to locking her door since that night. Gritting his teeth he pulled back a foot and slammed it against the hard wood, breaking the lock, and sending the door careening against the wall. He stepped forward quickly and placed a hand against it to prevent it from bouncing back into his face.

He searched the room for invaders or shadows that shouldn't be there. The floor of the room was scattered with clothing and the odd school book. Dresser…check, chair overflowing with things…check, bed with Naruto…check. Everything seemed to be in order so he turned his attention to the girl sitting up in the bed.

She was staring at him with wide terrified eyes and sweat covered the pale features as she shook under the covers. Her hair was pushed away from her face and one hand was clenched in her lap while the other held her upright. She was panting as if she'd run a marathon and won.

"Naruto," Iruka began carefully but he didn't get a chance to say anything further.

"Iruka! Sasuke…something's wrong! You have to call his parents!" She was yelling and throwing back the covers swinging her pajama clad legs around and sliding from the bed.

"Whoa, Naruto," Kakashi said coming up behind Iruka and seeing the frantic look on the girl's face, he decided to intervene before things flew out of hand.

"No, no! Sasuke was…car…there was a deer…accident!" She stumbled over the explanation not making any sense.

"It was just a dream, Naruto' Kakashi tried again to calm the girl.

"No, no!" she shook her head trying to get him to understand, "it wasn't! It was too real, too vivid! You have to call, make sure that he's home, that he's alright!" She ran up to him and grabbed the lapels of the robe, begging him to call.

"Okay, okay, Naruto, I'll call." Kakashi said holding up his hand in surrender against the fright that Naruto was displaying. Iruka had frozen in place seeing how terrified she was and what she was saying.

"Iruka," Kakashi said but didn't get a response from the man. "Iruka!" he bit out in a harder voice earning him a look to which he nodded. "Here, take Naruto into the living room and make some warm milk. We need to get her calm before she makes herself sick." Iruka nodded and took Naruto into his arms and gently guiding her down the hallway.

Kakashi sighed and went into the bedroom to call the Uchiha's, he prayed the whole time until they picked up that Sasuke was home and in bed because if Naruto was right…he feared the outcome.

"Hello? This is the Uchiha residence," the voice was feminine.

"Mikoto?" Kakashi asked taking a stab in the dark.

"Yes, who is this?"

"This is Kakashi. I'm sorry for waking you up this late but I need to know if Sasuke is home."

"Kakashi? Its okay I wasn't asleep and no, Sasuke isn't home yet."

Kakashi felt his stomach sink.

"Do you know where he is?"

"No, but he should be here any minute…Kakashi, what is this about?"

"Naruto had a bad dream and she wanted to make sure that Sasuke was alright," Kakashi explained.

"Oh, is she alright? I haven't seen her in a few months." Mikoto asked concern for the girl evident in her voice.

"Yes, she'll be fine. It seems that the two fought and broke up."

"Really? Sasuke didn't say anything about it, are you sure?"

"Yes. Mikoto, does Sasuke have a cell phone with him?"

"Well, yes."

"Could you do me a favor and call him, just to make sure that he's alright?"

"Alright, I will. I'll call back after I talk to him."

"Good."

He hung up and went into the living room to see Naruto huddled into the corner of the couch. He smiled gently at her in reassurance.

"Did you talk to him?" Naruto demanded as soon as she looked up.

"No, he wasn't home but Mikoto is calling him even as we speak." The sinking feeling had turned into a knot but it would do little good to show Naruto how he was feeling and get her all worked up again. She would be demanding that they go out and look for the young Uchiha.

Tears welled up in the girl's sky blue eyes and he heard a small whimper leave her throat. Her head fell and she swiped at the wetness with a shaking hand. Kakashi swore under his breath and willed the phone to ring with good news.

Ten minutes later they were still waiting. When it finally did ring the inhabitants of the room jumped while Kakashi scrambled to the phone.

"Mikoto?"

"No, this is Fugaku," the hard male voice gritted out. "You said Naruto had a dream. What was it about?"

"She said something about Sasuke, a car and a deer, then about an accident." Kakashi said.

"Hn…did she say where the accident was?"

Kakashi was silent for a long time having his fears confirmed. Sasuke was missing.

He turned to the girl keeping his feature set into an emotionless mask.

"Naruto…where did you see the accident happening?" he asked the question softly wanting to keep the girl as calm as possible.

Naruto stared at him the tears now flowing freely and unchecked down her cheeks. But she answered the question. "It was just after a canyon at the top. I remember thinking that there were thirteen miles left and I pushed a little harder on the accelerator before caution took over again."

"He's about thirteen miles away, towards Suna." Kakashi relayed the information.

"Thank you," Fugaku disconnected and they were left to wait once more.

An hour later Naruto was running into Konoha General with Iruka and Kakashi close behind. Her heart was hammering in aching thumps against her rib cage urging her to hurry. Her mind had gone into panic mode as soon as Mikoto called to let them know that Sasuke had indeed been in an accident and was being sent by life flight to the hospital.

Naruto skidded to a halt in front of the nurse's desk and panted out a demand. "A guy…*pant*…seventeen, accident…*pant*…just arrived?"

Kakashi smiled at the nurse. "Let me translate. Sasuke Uchiha was just brought in would you mind directing us to him?"

The nurse typed something up on her computer and then pointed to the right, Naruto didn't wait for her to speak before she was off like a shot dodging people in white coats and puke green scrubs. She reached the end of the hallway, looked left and saw nothing but the same then right and saw Mikoto pacing next to a bank of windows. Naruto approached more sedately slowing down as she got closer fearing what she could possibly hear.

Mikoto heard the rapid footsteps and looked up from fiddling with the pendant that hung around her neck. The worry and fear making her pale face seem older and more worn than Naruto had ever seen her. Mikoto's eyes looked into the blue of Naruto's and some of the worry seemed to leave as the woman ran into Naruto's arms.

"Oh, thank god, you're here," Mikoto exclaimed in a whisper as she clutched at the younger woman. She buried her face into Naruto's shoulder and released the tears that she'd been holding in. It was almost as if she believed that everything would be alright now that Naruto was there, like she was a faith healer and just by her presence alone could work miracles.

Naruto saw Fugaku in a discussion with a white haired man in a white coat who held a clip board and kept glancing down at it while he spoke with Sasuke's father. Fugaku was frowning fiercely and turned away from what the man was saying with a shaking head. He looked up and spotted Naruto holding his wife and his frown lessened and he seemed to sigh.

Naruto heard the low murmuring coming from the woman that she was holding and pulled her attention back to her.

"…you, Sasuke would…" Naruto heard.

"What?"

Mikoto raised her head and stepped back slightly bust still kept a hold on Naruto's arms. "If you hadn't called when you did the paramedics wouldn't have gotten to Sasuke in time. A piece of glass had punctured an artery and he was bleeding out another few minutes and they wouldn't have been able to do anything. You saved him," Mikoto cried.

"Where's Sasuke now?" Naruto asked looking around.

Iruka and Kakashi had taken up seats against the far wall and were in a conversation with Itachi that Naruto just noticed. The doctor had left and Fugaku was standing where he'd been looking down at the floor, his hands folded in front of him. Even from where Naruto was she could tell that his knuckles were white telling her that his hands were clutching tightly to the other. Possibly to keep from punching something or just to hold his emotions in check so that he didn't show them here in front of witnesses, or possibly both.

"He's in surgery. They have to repair the artery and the broken shoulder joint that he sustained when the car rolled."

With each new revelation Naruto found it harder and harder to keep from screaming, or fainting, or hitting something. As it was Naruto had to sit down or fall down as her legs had turned to rubber. She staggered to a hard plastic seat and collapsed into it burying her face in her hands, but she didn't cry. Instead she shook and took deep breaths that allowed her to hold herself together. Mikoto left her to join her husband which she drew into another set of seats, her hand tucked securely in his giving and receiving comfort.

Sometime while they waited, Iruka and Kakashi had taken up seats next to her. Her head was tucked against Iruka's chest while he rubbed his hand up and down her arm soothingly. Naruto's head ached viciously from the stress of holding in her tears and the late sleepless night. Kakashi had scooted down in his seat with his head resting on the back of it with his eyes closed. Naruto didn't know if he was asleep or just 'resting his eyes'.

A door opened and a man wearing blue scrubs and a matching cap stepped out. His hands were slightly damp as if he had just washed them and he looked towards Fugaku and Mikoto who had immediately stood. The surgeon's serious look changed to one of reassurance and comfort which garnered a quick response from Mikoto who seemed to sag a little in Fugaku's arms. Fugaku, however, waited for what the doctor had to say.

"Your son is a very luck boy, Mr. Uchiha. Just the fact that the paramedics were able to get to him quickly enough to prevent…well, it was a miracle in itself. He must have a very diligent guardian angel looking out for him. The surgery was a success and he is now resting comfortable in post-op. The nurse will be taking him back to his room in a few minutes and you will be able to see him there." The doctor smiled widely as Mikoto rushed forward and hugged him in thanks. Fugaku just nodded and held out his hand.

"Thank you, doctor," he said gruffly as he shook the man's hand.

Naruto dropped her head forward in thanks fighting against another round of tears.

Mikoto and Fugaku asked for the room number and set off to see Sasuke with Itachi following a little more slowly. He stopped when he noticed that Naruto wasn't moving. He cocked his head to the left studying the girl whose shoulders shook but wasn't crying.

"Naruto? Are you coming?" he asked.

"Naruto?" Iruka asked in concern. They had just spent the night waiting to hear if Sasuke was going to be okay and now that he was she seemed reluctant to see him.

"I'm just giving his parents a chance to visit with him first," she whispered, swallowing the trepidation that was moving through her. She took a deep breath before standing up.

She followed Itachi, slowly, down the hallway while Iruka and Kakashi brought up the rear. Her feet dragged on the floor as she forced her now reluctant body forward. It seemed to her like she was moving through a thick stew and each step got harder and harder to make. Her biggest fear was that Sasuke would reject her again, and she didn't know if she was strong enough to handle that again.

Itachi stopped in front of a door and looked in. He smiled slightly as he entered the room. Naruto could hear the low murmur of voices as Mikoto and Fugaku talked to Sasuke. She peered around the corner to see that Sasuke was still asleep even as Mikoto held his hand and talked about how scared she'd been. Fugaku had taken his other hand while Itachi took up a spot at the foot of the bed.

Naruto pulled back and leaned against the wall giving them privacy.

"Naruto, I'm going to go find a snack machine, is there anything I can get you?" Iruka asked kindly. His brown eyes filled with worry for his ward. The whole night had been exhausting for him and he could tell that she was even more tired than he was.

Naruto shook her head and slid down the wall to sit on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest. She dropped her head on to the tops of her knees and closed her eyes. She might have dozed because the next thing she felt was a warm hand on her shoulder and she looked up into Fugaku's eyes.

"Why don't you go ahead and visit with Sasuke. Now that we're sure that he's out of danger we're going to go find something to eat and it would do us good if you sat with him." Fugaku's voice was the kindest that she'd ever heard it and she had the brief and irreverent thought that someone had replaced the man with an alien.

Shaking the thought off, Naruto stood and nodded at Fugaku. She watched as the family moved off down the hallway. Itachi looked back once with a quick wave of his hand and then they turned the corner. Naruto took a deep breath then walked into Sasuke's room.

There were several machines hooked up to him, taking up most of the space at the head of the bed and to the far side of it. Sasuke was lying in one of those beds that you could raise your head, feet, or both with just the push of a button. Right now his torso was slightly elevated and the puke green gown that he wore opened at the front giving Naruto a view of his left shoulder which was swathed in bandages. His left leg was outside of the blanket and most of his upper thigh was bandaged also. Naruto approached from the right and stood looking down on him.

He was pale but his features were relaxed in sleep with the drugs that he'd been given. His hair stuck out randomly and there were other bandages covering other injuries that hadn't been so sever. She reached out a brushed her thumb over a bruise that marred the pale smoothness of his forehead.

Naruto swayed as a waved of dizziness swamped her, the night finally taking its toll. She pulled the nearest chair closer to the bed and sat down on it. She reached out and took his right hand in hers, pulling it closer. She pressed her lips to the back of his hand then her forehead to his wrist, saying a prayer that all is well and for Sasuke to wake up soon, but she fell asleep in the middle and didn't finish.

Sasuke winced as he entered consciousness. He was aware that he was lying down but the bed wasn't his because it wasn't as comfortable as his bed was. Maybe he had spent the night at Naruto's, he though dimly. But the thought was fleeting as he noticed a dull pain in his head. His lips pulled down at the ache but it didn't seem to bother him much and he wondered at that. He tried to raise his right arm but something heavy was holding it down which made him want to open his eyes.

Cracking his lids he looked around at the blurry images that didn't seem familiar at all to him. Blinking rapidly to try and dispel the blurriness he took another look. The walls were white with generic picture of landscapes on the wall. Grimacing at the hideous display of art he shifted his sight to his right and looked down at his arm. Something yellow and fuzzy was attached to it from his wrist down. He felt the warm breath flow over his hand and the hot feel of flesh. His eyes narrowed in concentration finally making out that the yellow fuzz was hair.

"N-Naruto?" he asked quietly but the fuzz didn't even twitch. He tried to clear his dry throat unsuccessfully. God, he needed a drink or something to get rid of the cotton that was currently occupying his larynx.

He tried to lift his left hand so that he could bring it over and touch the soft yellow fuzz. He wanted to see if it felt as soft as it looked. The oblique thought wasn't quite rational and Sasuke understood that but couldn't stop it all the same. Drugs were a wonderful thing.

_Hn. Where had that come from?_

He felt like he was drifting away but didn't want to give up on having Naruto look at him with her wide blue eyes which showed him the world that he had been missing. For some reason it was imperative that he see her eyes.

"Naruto," he spoke a little louder now and got a response from the sleeping fuzz. Her face moved against his wrist, her lips kissing him, then she rubbed a cheek over it. "Naruto."

Naruto raised her head to look at him and blinked before her eyes widened and she pulled away.

"I—I'm sorry, Sasuke, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you," she said quickly a note of panic in her voice.

"'s okay. D'nt mind," he mumbled. "'rink?"

"Drink?"

He nodded and watched as she scrambled for the pitcher of water that someone had left then fumbled with the cup before pouring a small amount of liquid into it. Then she was back at the bed and holding it carefully to his lips letting him sip from it.

The relief was instant, soothing the burning sand from his mouth and throat. He let his head fall back when he'd had enough then titled it towards the girl so that he could see her. Memories began to resurface and his chest tightened at them.

"Why are you here?" he asked huskily. She should hate him, not be sitting here looking at him in concern.

"I-I, um, couldn't stay away since you were hurt," Naruto said but Sasuke could tell that she was hiding something. He hadn't spent most of his life being her best friend without learning to read her.

"Hn." He couldn't think of a response so he gave the traditionally grunt. He studied her even as he drifted in and out of the drug induced fog, noticing the changes in her.

Her cheekbones were more predominant and the whisker like marks on her face seemed to be more noticeable. Her face was pale like the tan had worn off and there were dark circles under her eyes making them seem sunken. Her normally slender body seemed even more so and the clothes was she was wearing hung on her. Her shoulders seemed to hunch forward as if warding off a blow while her hands seemed to tremble so that when she noticed him looking at them she tucked them into the pockets of her hoodie. The most noticeable change in her was that her eyes didn't shine in bright blue, instead they were dull and sad.

He had done this to her.

If he'd been someone else and seen her in this state he would have punched himself.

"Naru…I—I…" Words failed him.

"You were in a car accident," Naruto said as silence reigned and she felt uncomfortable with it. "You could have died and there wasn't anything I could do about it!" Tears fell from Naruto's eyes as she remembered the dream and the helplessness that she'd felt. The anger began to rush up on her. "You could have died, Sasuke. All I could do was watch and then…wait." Naruto paced from one side of the room to the next working out the agitation that wound her up.

Sasuke didn't understand some of what she was saying but focused on her, staying quiet as she paced. The fog wasn't getting any easier to think through but is whole focus was on her. His eyes wanted to close but he forced them to remain open, because if he did close them, she might disappear and he wouldn't get a chance to fix things.

"Naru…"

Naruto turned to him and put her hands on her hips. "What?"

He lifted his right hand and waited for her to come to him and take it. Her small hand was swallowed up by his larger one and he tugged her closer until she had to sit on the bed or fall over it. So she sat. Sasuke let go of her hand and wrapped his around the nap of her neck pulling her down so that he could finally kiss her. He felt Naruto resist but he knew that she didn't want to hurt him more by struggling then she relaxed into him, giving herself over to the pleasure that Sasuke could draw out of her. The kiss was brief but he didn't let her go, instead he pulled her down so that she was lying next to him, her head pillowed on his chest. Once he had her secured he let the tension go but he still waited for her to relax. They both drifted off into sleep that way.

Iruka and Kakashi came back from getting snacks only to find the two kids together sleeping. Sasuke's arm was firm around Naruto and didn't look like he wasn't going to let her go without a fight, even if he was seriously injured and Naruto looked content to be where she was. Kakashi pulled Iruka into his arms as he saw Iruka's realization that he was going to have to let the girl go sooner that he thought. He'd been aware that his lover had been hoping that Naruto would wait until after college to fall in love, hoping that this thing with Sasuke was just a passing fancy but now the man had reached the conclusion that Kakashi had known from the first moment the two children had become friends. They were meant for each other, that together they were whole.

愛愛愛愛

Sasuke leaned against the wall as he watched Naruto stomp from one side of the room to the next. It'd been a hard recovery and now a month later he was back in school and playing catch up with his school work. The teachers had been sympathetic to him and allowed him to do the minimal amount in order to get back on track with everyone else. And now…

"No!" Naruto said firmly stopping in front of him.

"What do you mean 'no'?" He pushed away from the wall to stand at his full height and look down at her. He frowned his most intimidating frown not realizing that he looked just like his father when he did it.

"Just what I said. No. You broke up with me, remember. So what is the point of dating when we aren't together?" Naruto put her hands on her hips and stared up at him not intimidated in the slightest by his show of anger.

"So we get back together." Sasuke said matching her pose with his own. He leaned down so that their noses were almost touching.

"I don't wanna." Naruto said stubbornly.

Sasuke blinked and reared back staring at her like she'd grown a second head with snakes on it. She didn't want to get back together? What the hell? Sasuke's mind raced trying to come up with something to say in order to make her change her mind, but the way she had stated it made it clear that she would be mule headed about the whole thing. Damn It!

"I've decided that dating and the whole being with someone isn't me," Naruto stated lifting her chin.

Frustration filled Sasuke and he did the only thing that he could think of at the moment. He backed Naruto up so that her back was against the wall and lowered his head, kissing her stubborn lips before she said anything else that was more ridiculous than what she'd already said. He nibbled gently at the soft skin then licked demanding entry which she immediately granted and he dove into the sweetness of her.

She tasted like nothing he'd ever tasted before. The silky warmth of her mouth was heaven and he felt like a fallen angel when he kissed her. Her taste was uniquely hers and held him in thrall, addicting him so that he couldn't get enough. He could die of want when he wasn't kissing her and he could die of bliss when he was.

He reluctantly let her go and stepped back.

"We are back together," he stated.

"No."

Groaning, Sasuke dropped his head to the wall just behind Naruto shoulder. He thumped his head into it several times before he pulled away. He stomped to the door, opening it, and then looked back at Naruto.

"We'll see." He slammed the portal shut behind him.

愛愛愛愛

The next day the door bell rang.

Pulling open the door, Iruka gasped in surprise at the delivery man who held a huge bouquet of roses. The flowers were a deep crimson surrounded by a forest of green mixed with tiny white Baby's Breath.

"Delivery for Uzumaki Naruto." The delivery man stated then handed the vase to Iruka. "There is a card also. It's attached to the flowers." He turned and left leaving Iruka struggling to shut the door while trying to not drop the flowers.

"Naruto!" he shouted as he placed the bouquet on their small table.

Naruto bounced out of her room and gasped at the display of roses. "Iruka, did Kakashi send them? Wow, he must really…"

"No, these aren't from Kakashi. They're for you." Iruka said interrupting her.

Naruto's eyes widened. She stepped forward spying a white envelope amidst the flowers. She opened the envelope and gasped dropping it onto the table. Iruka picked it up and read what it had to say.

_Naruto,_

_Thank you for saving my life!_

_It's yours to do with what you like._

_Love,_

_Sasuke_

The day after the doorbell rang again.

This time Kakashi was home to answer it. Opening it he immediately wished he hadn't. A man was standing there holding a basket.

"Delivery for Ms. Uzumaki." The man stated then held out the basket which mewled loudly in protest at the roughness of the action. He waited for Kakashi to take it but when he didn't he shook it lightly causing it to mewl again.

Kakashi gingerly took the basket and watched as the man turned and left. He closed the door and sighed.

"Naruto, you have another delivery."

Naruto poked her head out and look at him. He held up the basket then waited for her to come and take it. Puzzled, Naruto stared down at the basket and almost dropped it when a scratching sound came from it. She put it on the floor and knelt by it before unbuckling the lid and looking inside.

She gasped as she flipped the lid back. Three tiny kittens were staring up at her from the confines of the woven reeds. One was fluffy orange, one was sleek black, and the other was a dark silvery tabby.

"There's an envelope attached to the lid," Kakashi pointed out crouching next to her and looking at the kittens with trepidation.

Naruto tore the envelope from the basket and took out the card inside.

_Naruto,_

_Don't these three remind you of something?_

_Please take care of them._

_Love,_

_Sasuke_

Naruto dropped the card and took out the orange kitten who swatted at a lock of her hair. She held the kitten up so that their noses touched.

"You are going to be called Kyuubi," she said. The kitten seemed to smile at her before taking another swipe at her hair. The silver tabby was named Sai, and the solid black cat was given the name of Hawk, because of the way it watched everything.

Everyday for the next week something new was delivered to the apartment. Most of the gifts were small but stuffed with memories from their childhood each was accompanied by a card with a small note from Sasuke and each was signed,

_Love,_

_Sasuke_

On Friday an orange orchid was delivered, attached to it by an orange ribbon was a small white balloon. A small white card was hanging from the flower and Naruto read it, feeling her heart begin to melt.

_Naruto,_

_Please wear your orange gown._

_7:00 p.m. tonight_

_I will pick you up._

_Love,_

_Sasuke_

Naruto glanced up at the clock and saw that it was already six. She scrambled up and ran to her room. Throwing open her closet, she pulled out the gown that she'd worn to her sixteenth birthday party. She laid it out on the bed and ran to her bathroom. Jumping into the shower she took the fastest shower that she'd ever taken in her life. Coming out wrapped in a towel, she saw Ino, Sakura, and Hinata standing in her room with huge smiles on their faces.

"Well, just don't stand there! Help!" Naruto cried.

They scrambled into action, helping her get dressed then taking over. Hinata gave Naruto a quick manicure while Ino did her make up and Sakura styled her hair into a becoming up do. She held as still as possible even while her heart was jumping around in her chest. The kittens were playing around her feet, Sai and Kyuubi rolling around in a mock battle while Hawk stayed on the side lines and refereed.

The three girls stepped back to survey their work when the doorbell rang. Naruto's eyes widened and her heart began to hammer in her chest.

"Its okay, Naruto," Sakura said giving her a hug.

"Sasuke is going to think that you're gorgeous," Ino exclaimed.

"Y-yes, and y-you al-already know th-that h-he loves you," Hinata said. She took the orchid and cut off the stem until it was two inches from the flower. She picked up a couple of bobby pins and reached up to pin the orchid into Naruto's hair.

"Wow, Hinata that looks wonderful!" Ino cried. "I wish that I'd thought of it."

Hinata blushed becomingly. "Thanks."

Naruto hugged the girl before she stepped into the hallway and walked towards the living room.

Iruka was standing next the Kakashi and he saw her first. A strange, lost look passed over his face before he smiled gently at her. Naruto returned the smile with her own, her eyes back to their bright and shining blue.

Sasuke turned having caught the tail end of Iruka's look. His breath caught in his throat seeing Naruto. She was even more beautiful now, than she had been when she first wore that dress. Their lives had been intertwined since they were eight and now nearly ten years later Sasuke was more than grateful that he'd stopped at that bush and found Naruto.

He drove them to the park where the party had taken place, but this time it was just the two of them. He led her to a small blanket laid out in picnic style and helped her to sit down then took up his place beside her. Sasuke had brought a variety of cheeses, along with sparkling cider and fruit. Sasuke refused to let her feed her self and held up morsel after morsel for her to eat. She'd been more than a little nervous at the beginning but soon warmed up to the play.

Sasuke smiled as the tension left Naruto and she allowed him to feed her. It was one of the most obvious seduction scenes in the book but Naruto seemed oblivious to it which was just fine with Sasuke. He sipped from the single glass and pulled Naruto forward by the nape of her neck and pressed his lips to hers silently demanding that she open for him, as soon as she did so he allowed the cider to trickle into her mouth. She swallowed and pulled back to stare at him.

"Did I ever thank you?" Sasuke asked.

"Thank me for what?"

"For allowing me to give you your first kiss?"

"No," she said shaking her head.

"Then, thank you, Naruto."

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**A/N: It's 4:15 a.m. and I have just written the greatest, most awesomest scene in centuries...Okay, I'm exaggerating and possibly at the most foggiest. I had to finish this chapter and get it out there because of all the AWESOME reviews. I now have a new record on reviews per chapter. THIRTEEN!!! I'm soo excited, happy, and elated! People you are just the greatest thing, next to chocolate body paint!**

**So, did you like the chapter or what. and None of you guessed it! I thought that the black hair (clue) would give it away but you didn't catch on! *smirks evilly* Okay leave me a review and lets see if we can break this newest record!**

**Thanks for all that you do for me!**

**ZEN**

**P.S. Still haven't proof read and so I'm really sorry for any grammar errors or spelling errors or what ever but because on my foggy head there might be more than a few! sorry! P.P.S. (6/18/09) Okay, I think that I was able to get most of the errors and adjusted a few things so that the reading is smoother. Thanks Once more!  
**


	9. Chapter 9

Eighteen year old Naruto stood in front of the Christmas tree trying to decide where to hang the small ornament she was holding on the already overloaded branches. Garlands hung half in and half out of the boxes that were scattered around the brightly lit living room of the small apartment. Evergreen and red was everywhere.

"Will you just hang it up already?" Sasuke huffed trying to untangle a garland of greenery but was succeeding in only tangling it up further.

"Decorating a Christmas tree is an art form, teme. Shh!" Naruto took a step to the left and her generous lips twisted as she looked at the tree then at the ornament then at the tree again.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and went back to trying to solve the garland puzzle. He could hear Iruka and Kakashi in the kitchen talking in low voices and random laughter as they fixed dinner. The three grown cats lounged together on a pile of stockings and tree skirting, grooming each other in contentment.

"Ha!" Naruto yelled as she finally found the perfect place for the ornament. She turned to him with triumph written across her face and her hands settled on her hips having conquered the Undefeatable Christmas Tree of Doom. She looked so pleased with herself that Sasuke grabbed her hand and pulled her into his lap so that he could taste her smirking lips.

"What was that for?" she asked as soon as he allowed her to break away from the kiss.

"For winning and for me," he said soothing some of the rumpled strands of golden hair while holding her squirming body against his aroused one. Naruto stilled feeling the hard bulge against her bottom and her wide eyes found his.

"Sa—Sasuke," she whispered as her own body responded to the proximity of that erection growing wet and needy. She bit her bottom lip as she wriggled for a completely different reason.

Sasuke huffed out a hard breath as Naruto's behind pressed against him and the heat seeped through the layers of clothing. He growled low in his throat as he felt Naruto shudder her breath beginning to pant out of her.

"Oi!" Kakashi called from the doorway. "Dinner is ready so get your butts in here and eat!"

Reluctantly, Sasuke helped Naruto up. Her face had flashed instantly to tomato red as Kakashi lifted a brow at their position. He didn't move until both were on their feet and moving to the dinning room where a festooned tabled was set with brightly colored red and green plates on a Christmas plaid table cloth. Mulberry scented candles were set into a festive centerpiece and were lit to give off a dim glow producing a romantic and seasonal tone to the room.

Iruka took up a spot at the head of the table with Kakashi and Naruto on either side, Sasuke took the spot next to Naruto. A quick prayer was said and dinner commences with everyone grabbing plate, or bowl to dish up turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, and fruit salad. There was also gravy, candy yams, and cranberries arranged in the empty places to complete the meal.

Even though Christmas was still three days away the small family had chosen to have a family dinner early because of all the activities that were happening in the next two days. Tomorrow was a Snow festival complete with snowy fun during the day such as: sculptures from local artists, snowball fighting and fort building for the older kids and an ice skating rink for the littler ones. Hot chocolate, donuts, and various other warm treats as well as snow cones, ice cream, and frozen goodies would be served throughout the day. There would be sleigh rides plus shuttles that would take people to the nearby mountains for skiing. Other had volunteered snowmobiles and ATVs for extreme sportsmen to use. And in the evening when things were calmer, more relaxed, there would be a dance. Both couples were looking forward to it.

On Christmas Eve the town got together for the little kids. At six they would gather the littler kids together and sign Christmas Carols ending with 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' in anticipation of Santa Claus coming. The little kids would line up with squeals of delight at the fur dressed man and sit on his lap to tell him their most precious dreams of the year. Once the secrets were told the brightly clothed man would give the child a small present and a bag of goodies after getting the promise that they had been good all year and would be sound asleep when he came to deliver their hoped for presents.

Then on Christmas Naruto would be joining the Uchihas for Christmas dinner.

"Seriously, Kakashi," Iruka said as Kakashi relaying a story.

"I am serious. Two cowboys were riding along on their horses, they said that they were looking for a young bull that had gone missing and when I saw them they had pulled the horses over to the side of the road and took out cell phones," Kakashi said with a smirk. Naruto giggled.

"I guess they were practicing safe driving!" she snickered.

Sasuke grinned at the family interaction. His family had gotten better at it since Naruto had become a part of them. She'd always talked about what the day or week was like whenever she was there during meals. A lot of the time bringing small laughs as something humorous that had happened sometimes outrage when the discussion ran into politics and Fugaku became agitated of the current state of the economy and Obama's plans to help the markets.

"So Sasuke, where are you planning on going to school?" Kakashi asked.

The smile left Naruto's lips as she looked down at her plate. Sasuke had explained that his dad wanted him to attend school over seas for a couple of years. It seemed that the school had an excellent business program and Fugaku had enrolled Sasuke in it. It was one of the few times that Naruto had seen Sasuke furious but he'd been unable to refuse after that. Even now Sasuke's brow furrowed with suppressed rage at the thought.

"I will be attending Aberdeen Business School," Sasuke muttered. "My father's thoughts are that I can get my degree quickly so that I can join in on more of the meetings at the company."

"Yeah, I'd heard that the programs offered over seas can get you a degree in half the time it takes here in the US." Kakashi's eyes slid to Naruto who was now picking at her food.

"Naruto--," Iruka interrupted the distressful topic, only to have the rest of what he was about to say cut off by the doorbell.

"Wonder who that is," he stated getting up to answer it, everybody else following.

Iruka opened the door to see Jiraiya standing there with a couple of police officers. Jiraiya's normally jovial appearance had changed to one of an older man. He was pale and seemed shaken the whole making him look ten years older and more worn. The red markings that ran down his face from his eyes to his jaw stood out even more from the lack of color in his face. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes were sad and pain ridden, lips were pulled down at the corner, and his brow was furrowed. Naruto could see tear tracks marking his face and knew that what was about to happen involved her parents.

"Jiraiya? Wha--?" Iruka began looking back and forth from the white haired man to the officers.

"Mr. Umino? I'm Detective Morino and this is Detective Yamato. Could we come in?" The man on the left spoke. He was tall with two scars cutting across his face diagonally; one short, slashing from just under is right eye and across his cheek while another started under the dew-rag that he wore to the center of his chin in almost a straight line down. His very presence was intimidating for the small family who stepped back to allow him, his partner, and Jiraiya through.

"We're sorry to come by at such an hour," the partner said looking gravely from one person to the next. He wasn't as tall Morino and had no distinguishing features that made him stand out in Naruto's mind other than the brown eyes that sent a chill down her spine.

"Would you like something to drink?" Iruka offered politely.

"No thank you," Morino said taking a deep breath. "We are her on official business. It seems that Minato Namikaze and his wife, Aniki, were killed this afternoon in a car accident."

Silence followed that statement then eyes went to Naruto who turned and left the room without a word.

Naruto made her way to her room and shut her door quietly. She couldn't think of anything to say or how she should react to the news. She heard the door close and knew that the detectives left. Numbness spread through her even as she heard a quiet knock on the door and Iruka peered around the room.

"Naruto, what are you thinking?" he asked quietly taking her hand and drawing her to the bed. They sat on the edge and Iruka waited for Naruto to speak.

"Iruka, why didn't my parents want me?" she asked the question that Iruka had been dreading for years now. Sighing he took a deep breath.

"Aniki isn't your biological mom," he started. "Minato met Kushina Uzumaki when he was fifteen and being the son of Jiraiya he fell in love with the girl. Well, I won't go into details but needless to say Kushina ended up pregnant and her parents refused the let the two get married. Her parents sent Kushina to another town to have you so that the stigma of your birth didn't reflect onto them. You see they were a very prominent family in this town and the fact that their daughter was having a bastard child…well, they thought that people would see them in a different light and they were embarrassed by it.

"When Kushina went into labor there were complications and in the end the doctors weren't able to save you both. Minato was left with raising you on his own which he tried desperately to do but then he met Aniki and she refused to marry him as long as he was raising a child because she didn't want to have an automatic family. I'd met him when you were about a year old and I was seventeen. I guess I loved you from the start and when Minato started looking for a family for you I told him that I'd take you.

"You were such a good natured child, always happy. When Minato told me that he couldn't handle it, I'd thought that you were one of those babies that was always crying or fussing. But you were so easy that I was surprised by Minato's claims. I didn't question him further when he handed you over because I was…ecstatic to finally be your dad."

"So he really didn't want me," she said evenly. "I'd hoped that it was just because they were young and wanted to give me a better home than what they could provide or some such. Not just because I was too hard to deal with."

"Minato was young when he had you. He was terrified to be sixteen and suddenly raising a baby. He was still just a child himself."

"But you weren't much older."

"In many ways I was. I'd lost my own parents when I was little and I desperately wanted a family to call my own and Minato practically handed you over and I belonged to someone again. I'd grown up at a young age and was mature enough to handle the responsibilities that come with having children."

Iruka drew Naruto into his arms and pulled her tightly against his chest in comfort. Naruto was now crying silently against him, her head buried in his warm shoulder. She'd known all along that Iruka loved her but hearing it was all the better.

"I—I don't know how to feel about him and the fact that he's dead," Naruto mumbled into the cloth of his shirt. Her hands clenched into little fists and she pulled away to look up at her dad. "I feel sad that he died, but I'm kind of relieved also and I'm wondering if that's wrong. I don't hate him because he gave me the best father anyone could have but at the same time I do. It's kind of all mixed up, it's like I'm mad and sad and…and I don't know.'

"It's alright to feel sad because he was you dad and he is Jiraiya's son and he's grieving. And I get that you hate him but you don't. I think that a lot of anger has been building up inside of you and now that he's gone you don't know were to direct it but I think that you should forgive him, and everyone else. It's going to take some time to sort everything out but you'll do it because you're Naruto and you can't hold onto a grudge." Iruka squeezed the girl tightly.

Naruto smiled and stood up pulling him up with her. "You're right. Besides I'm still hungry."

Iruka withheld the chuckle and tucked her against his side, under his arm and went back to the living room. Kakashi looked from one to the other and smiled at Naruto who nodded towards him to show that she was okay. She went to Jiraiya first and hugged him which he returned with force causing a small groan to push past her lips. He kissed the top of her head.

"You're a good kid, you know that, and no matter what Minato did I know that he loved you," Jiraiya stated. Naruto let it go because she didn't know what to say to that. She'd analyze it later, for its truthfulness and how she felt about it.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?" she asked pulling away from the man.

"That would be wonderful," Jiraiya said looking down at her with a soft smile.

She'd visited with Jiraiya off and on through out the years. He was a fun person to spend time with and often frustrating especially when they had hung out at the park and he'd leered at the twenty year olds that jogged past them if they were sitting on a bench. Or it was the time that he introduced her to every single eligible man that he knew when she was fourteen. Then there were the times that she'd gotten mad at him because she'd caught him peeking into the next door neighbors house when they were having sex and he'd claimed that it was 'research'. She loved him and hurt for him because he'd just lost his son. She wanted to make the hurt go away, hated to see the grief that was filtered in his eyes, but knew that the only thing she could do was lend her support to him.

They resumed their seat with Jiraiya sitting next to Kakashi. There wasn't much talking because of the news but they took comfort in each other. Naruto wasn't sure at what point that Sasuke's hand had taken hers under the table but he gave it a squeeze every other minute or so just to let Naruto know that he was there for her and she'd send him a sideways smile.

愛愛愛愛

Naruto stood next to Jiraiya at the graveside. She was supposed to be listening to the priest as he spoke about Minato's and Aniki's accomplishments in life but was trying her hardest to not roll her eyes at every good deed that was mentioned. Her eyes were fastened to the two coffins that were poised over tarps waiting for the mourners to leave so that they didn't have to see the black holes in the earth. Colorful flowers were stationed at the top of the grave and on the opposite side from where the funeral director had set up the seats for the service.

Jiraiya had refused to sit saying that he wasn't a helpless old man with a heart condition and he didn't need to sit. The chairs were occupied by a few of his female friends (yes, he had female friends, go figure). Naruto had been offered one but she was following his example and stood by his side.

Iruka, Sasuke, Mikoto, Kakashi, and Fugaku were stationed behind them, mostly for moral support but Fugaku who had been friends with Minato had taken it hard when he'd been told of his death. Naruto learned that they'd been best friends growing up. They'd played together, gotten in trouble together, and gotten out of trouble together. Minato had stolen Jiraiya's stash of Sake and had convinced Fugaku, who was a few years older than him and should have known better, to help him drink it while they hid in the tree house that they'd built. Jiraiya had found them puking behind in the bushes, drunk and sick from all the Sake they'd consumed. When Fugaku had gotten his first car he'd taken Minato out for a spin in it, and when they'd gotten into an argument over Kushina and Minato's relationship, he'd ran into the back of Jiraiya's own, newly purchased, red mustang. There were many other stories that Naruto had been told and she'd listened politely to every one holding back words that would hurt the elder Sannin.

Naruto felt someone step up to her side and looked sideways surprised to see Gaara standing there in a black suit. He bowed his head and looked appropriately mournful, which was somber and lips down turned. Naruto nearly broke out in laughter at the expression on his face but he quickly sent her a glare for almost blowing his cover.

"I wanted to be here for you as your friend," he said leaning in so that he could whisper in her ear without disturbing the other mourners at the graveside.

"Thank you," Naruto said, "but you didn't have to."

"I've been through a few of these, first with my mother, then my uncle and lastly with my father. I've kind of gotten the hang of the appropriates so I can help you through all the little things." He turned back to the service with a little nudge of his head in the direction of the priest.

She could feel Sasuke's glare drilling into the spot between Gaara's shoulders and she ducked her head around to see him just as she'd thought she would, trying to stare daggers into the red heads heart from behind. She felt Jiraiya nudge her and looked up at him with an apology.

Then the priest asked if anyone would like to come up and say a few words for the two victims that were taken early in their lives. Jiraiya stepped away from her and made his way over to the priest.

He looked around at everyone who was gathered but when he was finished his deep blue eyes came back to Naruto and stayed. He took a deep breath and fought down the tears that had been threatening to overflow for the past fifteen minutes.

"Minato wasn't the most brilliant person in the world, though he was extremely smart as he proved to me on several occasions when he was able to outwit me during arguments. And there were times when he'd be extremely careless and stupid like getting caught putting blue dye in the girl's locker room shower heads, maybe he was going through a Smurf complex at the time, I'm still not sure." The people chuckled at the comments but sobered quickly. "When my wife brought Minato home from the hospital he was the most precious person in the world to me from the get go. And I indulged him greatly in everything. I also taught him almost everything I know…" There were a few questioning looks. "…I said _almost._ I know that he wasn't the flawless in fact he had many flaws. One being that he could be very selfish along with very stupid. But he did care for the people in his life and made sure that they were taken care of even when he wasn't around. I didn't know Aniki very well but I'm sure that she was for the most part and good person. I'd only met her once and that was on their wedding day. Minato told me that she loved the outdoors and would drag him to every hiking trail that was nearby when they had the free time. When we spoke he sounded happy so I know that she was his life. And I'm very grateful to Minato for giving me someone who had become as precious to me as he was, my granddaughter Naruto and I will be eternally indebted to Minato for allowing me to be a part of her life." His voice broke several time during that last and Naruto felt a burning sensation in her eyes and blinked surprised to find tears slipping down her face. He finished his speech and came back to her side taking her hand and giving it a little

There were several other people who spoke about Minato and/or Aniki telling their personal experiences. When the service came to an end, Jiraiya followed by Naruto went to the coffins and laid a single white rose over each. They were followed by the rest of the mourners. But instead of leaving, Naruto hung back.

"Naruto?" Iruka inquired seeing her hesitate.

"I'll meet you at the car," she said and watched as he left with Kakashi and Jiraiya. Sasuke leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree and Gaara took up a space next to him with his arms folded across his chest.

Naruto walked back to stand by the coffin when everyone else had left. The funeral director seeing her motioned to the people who would finish up to give her some privacy.

She was silent staring at the brown surface of the shiny coffin that was adorned with white roses, daisies, and orchids. She reached out and felt the cool surface, brushing her finger tips across it.

"I…" she felt the burn of tears again and tried to blink then back. "I've heard more stories about you this past few days than I think I've heard in my whole entire life. Iruka's been a great dad and you chose well." Her voice grew husky with holding back the emotions that were trying to swamp her. Taking a deep breath she continued. "From everything I've heard it seems that we have a lot in common. Jiraiya says that you used to come home from school with bruises nearly every day. You were friends with an Uchiha. You would bring home stray cats and you weren't afraid of anything…except me it seems. I'm stronger than you though because I won't run away from my mistakes or let someone else deal with them. It might have been nice to get to know you but I guess you were afraid or felt guilty about me. I don't think that Kushina would have been embarrassed by me and I think that you disappointed her when you couldn't handle having a kid…sorry, I've been going back and forth between anger and…more anger. It seems like every time I think of you I get angry, for myself, for Jiraiya, and for Kushina who didn't even have a chance to 'handle me'. Iruka says that I need to forgive you and I guess in a way I do, but there is just so much that I wanted to tell you.

"Before learning why you abandoned me, I wanted to get to know you and show you that I was a good person. When I was younger I used to dream about telling you how I got an A on my math test, that I'd studied so hard to get it or to show you the picture that I drew of being a family, the one that Iruka taped to the refrigerator. Then as I grew and a milestone came up I used to wonder about what you thought of me or what you'd say to me. Like when I had my first period when I was twelve—I thought that Aniki was my mom—and she'd cry because I was growing up, like Sakura's mom did. Or when I first became interested in boys, back before I knew that Sasuke liked me—you'd sit me down and have that talk with me, the one about the birds and the bees and then tell me that you'd shoot any guy that looked twice at me—the way Hinata's dad did before sending a shot gun shell to Kiba with his name written on it, hand delivered by Neji, by the way. Or when I turned sixteen. I'd even began to wonder if you might show up at my graduation.

"But you know what? I'm glad that Iruka was my dad. I wouldn't have it any other way. He's given me so much and been there for me in every way. I don't think anyone, even you, could have been a better father. So I forgive you and I want to tell you thank you." Naruto dropped her hand from the coffin top and turned to see Iruka (tears streaming down his face), Kakashi (who nodded and smile at her), and Jiraiya (who's head inclined in pride). Iruka came up to her and hugged her tightly making her groan at the strength he put behind it. When he released her, Sasuke came up and took her hand to guide her to the car.

"The lawyer will meet us at my house," Jiraiya said before they could get in the car. Iruka and Kakashi agreed that they would be there while Naruto looked confused.

"Lawyer?" she asked.

"Minato left a will behind and you and Iruka are needed at the reading," Jiraiya explained but Naruto didn't understand.

"It will be explained more there," Sasuke said tugging her into the car.

Jiraiya's house wasn't large but it was beautiful all the same. The cottage style house was set in the middle of a wonderland of flowers, shrubs, and trees. As a little girl, shenever she visited, she would pretend that she was a fairy princess and this garden was her kingdom. The little lady bugs were her subjects as well as the dragonflies, butterflies, and the occasionally bumble bee that didn't get too close. Behind the house was a large pond and she wondered if Gamabunta, Gamakichi, and Gamatatsu were still croaking away from the banks. The house itself was straight out of a Thomas Kinkade painting with wooden shingles, stone walls, blue shudders and door. It even had a smoking chimney where wisps of smoke curled lazily into the air.

"Come on," Sasuke said pulling Naruto along by the hand.

"Its something that is appropriate," Gaara said. Naruto didn't know how Gaara had ended up getting to come along but she was grateful that her friend was there because now she could glare at him.

"Will you shut up about appropriates?" she demanded.

Gaara smirked at her and lifted a nonexistent brow. How was it that he could get away with not having any eyebrows and not look like a freak of nature? "Just trying to help."

"Well, you're not so if you don't have anything of real value to say, just keep quiet like you always do. I don't know why you have to pick now to become a jabber jaw," she muttered then looked up in surprise when she found herself in Jiraiya's living room.

The lawyer stood before the fireplace with a small table set up next to him. Jiraiya was shaking his hand and Naruto wondered if she should go over and shake it also, then decided that if it was appropriate then everyone was doomed to disappointment because she was staying right where she was.

"Okay, I'd first like to thank everyone for being here. Officially for my records I'm going to record this so I'd like everyone to briefly state their full name and relation to Minato Namikaze."

Jiraiya went first. " I'm Jiraiya Sannin and I am Minato's father."

"Iruka Umino, I am Naruto's adoptive father, no relation to Minato."

"Kakashi Hatake. No relation to Minato."

"Naruto Uzumaki, Minato's daughter, Iruka's adoptive daughter."

"Sasuke Uchiha, no relation to Minato."

"Subaku no Gaara, no relation to Minato."

"Good now that I have everyone recorded. To those of you who aren't mentioned in the will you will stand as witnesses, if that is alright?" There were nods all around and the lawyer continued. "I am Hiruzen Saritobi, Minato's lawyer. I've asked Jiraiya to have you all gather here because, Minato Namikaze left a will and you have been mentioned in it.

"I'm not going to go into all the details and 'whereases and wherefores' so I will just be giving you the bare minimum and say it straight.

"'To my father, Jiraiya I have left all my personal belonging including the 1967 Shelby Mustang that he always wanted. Also all account under my name that aren't mentioned here will be signed over to you in the event of my death.

"'To Iruka Umino, for caring for Naruto, I'm leaving you will the sum total of $500,000, to reimburse you for any expenses that I was unable to provide for." Iruka was shaking he head.

"What the hell?! There weren't any expenses that he needed to take care of," he said.

The lawyer ignored him and continued. "I'm deeply indebted to you and I hope that the funds that were given to you for the care of Naruto were sufficient though from what I hear from Jiraiya, I know that she is quite the handful. I get a kick out of some of the antics that she's pulled throughout the years."

Naruto was surprised at the look inside of Minato.

"'and to Naruto Uzumaki. I am giving you all the pictures that I have of Kushina, your mother. She was a wonderful, and caring girl. You've taken after her in so many ways. The pictures are in the box that the lawyer had along with a letter from her and one from me also, though I will understand if you take my letter and burn it in Jiraiya's fireplace. I have also provided you with a trust fund which will provide you will a generous allowance monthly and also will pay for your schooling when you finally decide which school you want to go to. The trust fund will give you a monthly allowance until you are twenty five and then the whole trust will be turned over to you. The sum of $500,000 has been deposited into the trust so if you manage it carefully you shouldn't have to want for anything. I know that money doesn't buy happiness and that I have done you a great disservice for the life that I've handed you but I'm hoping that you will forgive me one day." The lawyer quit reading and looked up from the will. He picked up a medium sized box and brought it to her. He smiled gently at Naruto from a wrinkled face as she took the box clearly puzzled by the event that had just unfolded.

"Ah, that is everything that was in the will. Jiraiya, I'm terribly sorry for your loss, as well as yours Naruto. If you don't mind I need to get back to my office. If you have any questions you can reach me there. I'll have my secretary mail you copies of the will along with my information." The door closed quietly behind him as he left.

The rest of the group gathered around Naruto who stared at the box she'd been handed like it was a ticking time bomb. She sat down on the closest couch but didn't make any move to open the box.

She wanted to do exactly what Minato had suggested in his will and pull out the letter that he'd written and throw it into the fireplace. But first she would read Kushina's letter and look at the pictures. She set the box on the floor and opened the box. First there were two letters and underneath them were some photo albums. She lifted the letters to study the writing of the outside. One letter was old, faded, and had neat flowing writing on it and Naruto assumed that it was Kushina's letter. The other was crisp, white, and the bold writing across the front was very masculine and blocky.

Naruto carefully opened the older envelop first then took a deep breath and started reading out loud.

"Dear Naruto…

_My name is Kushina Uzumaki and I'm sixteen years old. I just found out from the doctors here that you are a girl and I've always like the name Naruto so that's what I'm going to name you, even if you complain that it's a boys name or a fishes name. I'm excited for you to come but I'm also really scared. Just the thought of what's going to happen when I have you makes me scared, the whole childbirth thing…_

_My parents are insisting that I give you up, but I'm refusing. You are my child, mine and Minato's and I just know that you are going to be beautiful. I'm not sure that I can explain my parents well enough because even I don't fully understand them. You see I'm not married to Minato, simply because they refuse to have the Uzumaki blood mix with a 'lowly' (their words not mine) Namikaze blood. My parents are from the upper class and are very weathly, whereas Minato is from the working class and they don't think that he's good enough for me. So there in lies the problem. I'm not married so your birth will make you a bastard. There are many people out there who will think that you aren't worth anything. They'll hate you and try to make your life miserable and I am truly sorry for that but I will try to make up for it and as soon as I'm eighteen and legally an adult, Minato and I will be married!_

_Oh, Naruto, you're father is wonderful. He's so handsome almost beautiful, he makes me think 'that's what angels look like'. I love him so much. Maybe you'll have his blond hair and blue eyes. I truly hope so because my carroty hair is just soo…ack! Minato had a smile that makes everything better. You'll see when you get here how wonderful he is. And you'll have a playmate too because his friend, Fugaku Uchiha, has a son and I just know that you'll be best friend just like Minato and Fugaku._

_I guess that I should tell you about myself—other than the fact that I have horrible red hair. I don't know what to tell you…I like music of course, I mean what teenager in their right mind doesn't like music—though I am sure that when you become a teenager the music will have changed and bands like ABBA and KC and the Sunshine Band won't be around anymore. I love to cook—shh, don't tell my parents but whenever I get the chance I sneak down to the kitchen and help the cook with dinner. When I grow up I'm going to be a World Famous Chef and work in one of the most prestigious restaurants in the world. And I love RAMEN, it's like the food of the gods and one day it will cure hunger world wide. I also have a temper from hell and it's on a short fuse. The first time  
I met Minato and he asked me my bra size, I punched him so hard I knocked him out. Of course, later I forgave him, especially after meeting his father, Jiraiya (who is a porn writer)._

_Like I said Naruto I'm really excited for you to get here. I want to show you the world, things that I love like the Emerald Pools at Zions National Park, the Canals of Venice, and the Louve in Paris where the Mona Lisa hangs. I've been to some of the most wonderful places, thanks to my parents wealth and I want to show them to you. I also want to let you do everything you want…well, almost everything…like ride a horse, learning to ice skate, or painting a landscape. If you want to learn Taijutsu, then I want you to or if you want to rappel off a tall cliff (hopefully not until you are at least sixteen, and with several safety lines attached) then I want you to do it. I want you to spread your wings and take flight, don't let anyone or anything tell you that you can't because you can._

It seemed like there was a time skip but the letter continued but there were stains and blurred words as if someone have been crying while writing the letter.

_My dearest Naruto, _

_The doctor is telling me that there are complications with the pregnancy. He says that there is a chance that one or both of us won't make it. So this may be the last time I can talk with you._

_I'm in the hospital waiting. You are just minute (or hours) from being born and I'm praying to God that you survive. Minato is pacing outside the door, he finally wore my parents down so that they told him where I was. I don't know if I told you but they sent me away to have you, again because of the stigma of your birth which I'm so sorry for but I don't think I would change a thing._

_I love you and Minato so much and if I don't make it you will need each other. I know that I will be proud of you and that you will do your best and try everything, and never go back on your word. You have a father and a mother that love you dearly, never forget that. And you have the power to change people, just like Minato, I know that also._

_My dearest Naruto, be strong, grow up knowing that I'm looking down from heaven, and since I probably won't be there, be good, don't give your father too hard a time, eat your vegetables (I know they don't always taste good but they are good for you), don't stay out too late, and be safe always! _

_Love from your mother,_

_Kushina_

Naruto trembled, tears streaming down her face. She looked up to see blurry images of her family surrounding her. Jiraiya and Iruka were crying also.

"Well, I know one thing. Naruto didn't eat her vegetables unless she was threatened with no ramen for a week," Kakashi said. That started everyone laughing breaking up the somber mood.

Naruto slid the letter back into the envelop and looked at the other one. Quickly before she lost her nerve she tore open the envelop and pulled the letter out opening it.

"Naruto…

_I guess that you didn't throw this in the fireplace, so here's your last chance. No? Well, then that's good._

_I don't know where to begin but since those words are redundant and the answer is always the same, I guess I'll start at the beginning._

_About 10 million years ago there was a huge explosion in space…Oh, that's to far, okay, fast forward…_

_I met your mother, Kushina at a party that a friend of mine was having. Well it was his father's party and I just happened to crash it. I'd been wandering around looking for Fugaku when I saw this fiery head of hair that seemed to burn through the crowd. Getting closer I saw the most gorgeous creature that I'd ever seen and since I didn't have much tact to begin with, having Jiraiya for a father, I said the first thing that popped into my head without waiting for my mind to catch up. I asked for her bra size. Needless to say that it didn't impress her much, at least not as much as she impressed me about two second later…and one concussion. She cleaned my clock and it was a while before I woke up to find her gone, much to my disappointment._

_But I found her later because she was enrolled at our school that year. I'm not sure which of us fell in love with the other first but I'm thinking that it was me. I fell hard for the girl who could knock me out with just one punch, and I think it was that moment that I fell in love with her, irrevocably._

_When I got her pregnant, we were both terrified. And then her parent found out. I went to them and asked that we be married but they refused saying that they wouldn't have their name attached to trash. It was hard to learn that even in the United States that there is a class system and I wasn't worthy of the Uzumaki's daughter. I went home but then I got a bee in my bonnet and I wasn't going to take no for an answer so I went back only to be told that they'd sent their daughter to live with a distant relation. I demanded to know where she was but they refused to tell me anything. For several months, I didn't know if she was alright, if she was being taken care of, and more importantly if you were still apart of our lives. Everyday I went to them and demanded that they let me know where you were but they always refused. I learned where you and Kushina were from Fugaku. He'd over heard a conversation between his father and the Uzumaki about Kushina and he told me what he'd heard._

_When I got there Kushina was in labor and it wasn't going well. The doctor said that there was a seventy percent chance that both of you would die during the birth. There were a lot of big words used and needless to say I didn't understand Doctor's Speak, and I pleaded with them to save Kushina._

_I don't want to beat about the bush and I don't want to lie to you so I won't. If there was a chance of saving her, then I wanted the doctors to put her life before yours. But in the end you were the one that lives though you were scared. Those six lines that grace your cheeks came from your birth, the forceps that the doctor used._

_For the longest time, I was angry and mad at the world. Every time I looked at you, you reminded me of what I'd lost._

_When Iruka came into my life, he looked at you differently. He looked at you in such a way that I couldn't. You smiled for him when you didn't smile for me…I think because you knew what I felt even when you were that small. I knew about Iruka's background and his longing for a family and I manipulated the situation well letting him watch you and take care of you._

_I met Aniki during that time as well. She wasn't Kushina but she was a wonderful and fun person to be with and I finally began to live again but there was one catch. She was the type of girl who didn't want a ready made family and I wasn't willing to give up the only person who was able to pull me from the darkness._

_Don't get me wrong. I gave my soul to Kushina and once given there wasn't anyone else who owned that part of me. I loved Aniki, yes, but Kushina was my one and only._

_So, I gave Iruka guardianship of you, and allowed him to officially adopt you. Though I did keep track of you over the years through Jiraiya. I heard about the time you snuck the puppy into the school and tried to hid it away in the coat closet, at least until, your teacher grew suspicious of the scratching sound and opened it to find a frightened dog who promptly made a break for it which ended up with the whole school trying to catch it as it ran through the hallways. I also have been hearing about Sasuke Uchiha, the son of my friend Fugaku, and I couldn't be happier, though the Uchiha's are sometimes hard to get along with and like to have things their way._

_I know that I could give excuse after excuse for everything that happened but in the end that's all that they are…excuses. In the end it doesn't change the fact that I hurt you in the simplest, most basic way even before you knew about hurt and pain. In the end, it comes down to one thing only. I was weak and a coward, running away from my responsibilities and the hurt that I was going through. You are the strong one of us, much stronger that I could have ever been. I blamed you for everything, but I was wrong and for that I missed out on the most beautiful and precious thing that could have happened to me._

_I know that Kushina is disappointed in me and I have to live with that and I will. Even though I took the coward's way out, I want you to know that I gave you to the one person who would love you the most in this world besides Kushina. I love you, but I wasn't able to be a father to you. Iruka is your father in every sense, he was there to teach you to walk; he was there to bandage your skinned knees when you fell; he was there even when Sasuke was being an idiot to hold you._

_I hope and pray for the day when you will be able to forgive me, Naruto. Until then…_

_Minato_

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_**A/N: Holy Freaking Hell!!! That was the hardest chapter I have written! I think I cried through the whole thing, so I hope you return the favor. Um, I also hope that I didn't step on anyones toes, or confuse anyone with all of that. Adoption is a subject that is very close to me (from Kushina's perspective) so a lot of this is hard to write about, but I hope that you don't mind that personal issues came up.**_

_**At first it was going to be different and her parents were going to come back, but I in the end I opted for another scene. Also, the way the original scene was going to work I didn't think really fit this story. Perhaps in another one, some other time. **_

_**Well, I hope that you like this chapter as much as you like the other two...btw...you guys broke the record with sixteen (count them), SIXTEEN reviews! Thanks so much! And I know that there were several people that I didn't respond to and I'm sorry but to everyone who didn't get a response: THANKS BUNCHES AND BUNCHES FOR THE REVIEWS! YOU GUYS ROCK!**_

_**You know what to do, so let me hear from you!**_

_**ZEN**_

_**P.S. I didn't proofread but will do so and fix at a later date. I know that it can get irritating and I'm sorry (there are a lot of stories that I just can't read because of that) but i hope that it didn't irritate to bad.  
**_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: UPDATE TIME! It's been a long time coming, and I apologize for that so without further ado...**

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It'd been a year and Sasuke was finding that as the days went by, he was growing increasingly more frustrated with the situation. Aberdeen was a great school but the distance from Naruto was driving him up the wall. And today had been one of the worst days yet.

He'd gotten to class on time but as soon as he'd walked in the door one of the TAs had immediately latched onto his arm. She'd been hinting at wanting to provide him with more help, which Sasuke had interpreted her cooing to mean that she would die to have a chance at having sex with him, any time, any where. Disgusted with the blatant innuendos he'd brushed her off with a glare and taken his normal seat. Later on in the class he'd heard some of the students whispering about how he must be gay since he'd turned down the girl. He'd rolled his eyes and was almost joyous when the class ended and he could get away from the sidelong glances he was receiving.

Naruto was attending the French Culinary Institute in New York working on becoming a decent chef. She'd at first wanted to attend a school that would put her closer to where he was studying but had eventually opted to stay in the States.

He took the break between classes at the Hub where the campus' internet café was located and sent off another e-mail to Naruto. He'd been texting her since last night but hadn't received an answer. He was beginning to get worried.

So currently he was running through several scenarios as to why she wasn't answering her e-mail or texting him back. The first being that she'd gotten hurt somehow and was in the hospital unable to contact him. The second and more worrisome was that she had met someone and was avoiding letting him know by ignoring the messages.

He sighed and looked around the small café ignoring the looks he was getting from the female population and some of the male population. He stood and walked to the door tossing the coffee that he'd ordered into the trash receptacle. Once he was out of the building he glanced up at the grey sky that was threatening to drench anyone caught out in it with a deluge of water.

It was a good thing that this was his last week and he could go home. He'd never been so far away from the people that matter the most to him. The phrase 'absence only makes the heart grow fonder' kept playing in the back of his head, but it was draining on his concentration.

He walked up to the grey stone building that housed his next and final class. He breathed out once again pondering on the fact that this lesson in torture was nearly over.

"Oi, Sasuke!"

The raven paused on the first step and turned to see who had shouted at him. Suigetsu, one of the students that he could truly tolerate at this school, was waving at him. He had a mop of shaggy hair that seemed to be a cross between grey and a light purple color. He wore a sleeveless tunic with grey pants and a couple of belt wrapped around his slender hips. He waved a little over enthusiastically to him motioning him over to the group that was currently loitering in front of the Edward Wright Building. His grin showing off teeth that he'd had filed to find points. "All the better to intimidate the criminal pricks who he would be defending soon," was his normal comment to questioning looks regarding his teeth. But Sasuke had found out that he'd been in a gang when he was younger and everyone had filed their teeth to terrify the other gangs that they had gone up against. Suigetsu had been the only surviving member after a turf war had broken out; he'd never gone back, mourning the friends that he'd lost privately, at least until the night he'd gotten drunk about midway through the term and talked openly about that night. Sasuke'd had his eyes opened to another side of life that night, one filled with bitter regret and violence.

"Hn?" Sasuke grunted as he strode over to the group which consisted of two other members.

Karin was a hard core bitch with auburn hair and thick pop bottle glasses. When she was asked why she didn't switch to contacts, she'd punched the guy and sent him to the hospital with a concussion. No one had asked again. Sasuke didn't know much about her other than she came from Montana and didn't ever want to go back.

Juugo was a hulking man who towered over everyone. He was a quiet man and spoke slowly which caused more than a few people to think that he was lacking in the toy department (his brain to those of you who don't understand). Sasuke knew that the man had more than a couple of tired hamsters running on a squeaky wheel in that skull of his. Juugo liked to think about his answers before he spoke, that was a trait that Sasuke wished more people had.

"Hey, man, we're going to the PoW tonight for drinks, you coming?" Suigetsu asked slinging an arm around the Uchiha's shoulders causing him to stiffen. Not many people were allowed to touch him, but he forced himself not to shake the friendly gesture off.

"No, I'm waiting for a message from home."

"From your girl, Naruto?"

"Hn."

"You know, if she hasn't answered by now then she's probably moved on," Karin said snidely then looked Sasuke up and down with a more than interested look.

Suigetsu looked at her in disgust.

"I'm sure that she's probably just busy with her classes and she'll call soon," Juugo reassured.

"Yeah, man, so why don't you call it quits for the night and come with us," Suigetsu agreed.

"Alright, but only for a couple of drinks," Sasuke agreed. "Right now, I have to get to my economics final."

"Oh, yeah, me too." This from Suigetsu, the only person that Sasuke knew who could forget that he had to take a final exam causing Sasuke to shake his head and roll his eyes.

愛愛愛愛

The Prince of Wales was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder along the bar and squeezed into booths. The air was heavy with chemicals released from cigarettes and the voices of people trying to talk over each other in a steady hum. Many of those voices excited and celebratory from the fact that the school year was complete as were their degrees and they could go home. Most, students and locals alike were enjoying the atmosphere that the longest bar in Europe had tonight.

Sasuke Uchiha wasn't one of them. He rubbed his temples and grimaced as another female body rubbed along his, deliberately, as she slid past to join a flock of friends on the other side of the bar. He didn't know why he'd agreed to come along now but he knew that he wouldn't agree to this again. He winced as his foot was stepped on again, for like the hundredth time and an elbow was jammed into his side by another person who was trying to get by.

"Sorry," came the drunken reply from a rancid smelling mouth.

Maybe he should have insisted that they go to Slains Castle. At least there the crowds were thinner and the drinks better than the drafted ale he was holding in his hand. But he'd avoided that place since the day after he'd arrived at the university because of the mob of fangirls that hung out there. He definitely wasn't in the mood to be groped, hugged, and thoroughly humiliated by college age women with one thing on their minds.

Feeling a shooting pain in his foot again, he decided that he was going to call it a night when a light tapping on his shoulder caused him to swing around with the intention of telling who ever it was that no he didn't want to go to a party, private or otherwise, no he didn't want to go to dinner and no he definitely didn't want to have s…

Bright and shining blue eyes met his and a huge grin was one of the most beautiful sights he'd yet to seen in the old town. Long blond hair was pulled up and anchored on the top of her head with a pair of chopsticks and a few wisps were feathering lightly across cheeks that were lightly scarred with three thin white lines. Stunned, all Sasuke could do was stand and gawk at the woman.

Naruto blinked up at him suddenly filled with trepidation. They hadn't seen each other in nearly a year and he was just staring at her. She'd known that she'd made a rash decision when she'd purchased the ticket on a flight to Scotland. She'd finished up her year and was at a loss as to what to do. She'd gone back to Konoha for the break and wandered around meeting up with old friends that were also on break from college. They'd talked about what they'd done and the experiences they had but as the days had worn on Naruto had hatched the seriously ill thought out plan and boarded the first flight she could get onto.

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed quietly and relief filled him. The mug of ale dropped to the floor with an unheard crash, and he reached out and pulled the girl into his arms filled with an inexplicable joy that Uchiha's didn't feel. He held her tightly to him despite the protests that were being muffled by the thick sweater he wore; he wasn't going to let her go any time soon either.

Grasping her wrist he pulled her through the crowd ignoring the people who glared or complained at the rudeness of being shoved out of the way. He wanted, needed, to find a quiet place so that he could question the girl as to what she was doing here and why she hadn't answered his texts. Reaching the parking lot he swung around and pulled Naruto back into his arms this time claiming her soft sweet lips in a harsh, I-missed-you-like-hell, kiss.

It was a long time and several cat calls later that he reluctantly pulled away from her to look into wide cerulean eyes that stare up at him with languorous confusion. The deep pools drew him in and he dropped his head again for a brief but fiery peck.

"Naruto…" he started.

"I couldn't stand it so I came here," she said looking up at him, the hand that he wasn't latched onto was fisted in the material of his sweater as if she wasn't going to let him go either. "School was out and I went back to Konoha but…you weren't there. I—I…" She trailed off looking worried.

"You weren't answering my texts," he said.

"I was on a plane, stupid, I couldn't…and then I was here and I wanted to surprise you. I went to your apartment and Neji brought me here," Naruto explained haltingly. "Are you mad?"

"Yes…No…No, I'm not mad." He smiled down at the worried face reaching up to smooth the lines that formed between furrowed eye brows. His caress trailed down her face to cup her cheeks and bring her head back up so that he could kiss her again.

This time he lingered at the entrance to the parted lips, instead of invading like the Nazi army had Russia. He licked over the soft, supple flesh pulling it into his mouth and biting down gently earning him a small whimper from the back of her throat. He explored the sharp little teeth that had bitten him when they were nine because he'd wrestled her to the ground and refused to let her up, all because she'd thrown a mud clot at him after he'd called her an idiot for playing in the dirt like a three year old.

Fire ran down his spine as he licked at the inside of her mouth and tongue that tasted spicy and sweet at the same time, his favorite flavor. His hand came up to clutch at her arms before smoothing over her back in a downward motion to cup her ass and squeeze gaining him a startle squeal. He grinned, unseen, and pulled back from tempting flavor that was Naruto.

"Never again, damn it. A year is just too long to go," he muttered. He took a step back and looked her over. "I would have thought that you would have gained some weight from all that cooking."

"Not with having to run several blocks every day to make it to school on time," she said with a small blush.

Sasuke smirked. She was constantly running behind because of she had the attention span of a gnat and was easily distracted. Living in New York, he guessed, hadn't changed that…probably had made it worst because there were more things to distract her.

"So did you get the hoodie from Neji?" he asked tucking her hand into the bend of his elbow and turning to walk back to his apartment.

"Yes, I didn't know that it would be so chilly here, even though it's almost June. But he said it was yours and you wouldn't mind."

"Hn, I don't."

"Oh, what's that?"

Sasuke had to grin as Naruto's attention shifted to the buildings that surrounded them. They were just off of the busy St. Nicholas square and there were plenty of distractions for Naruto to see. He took her hand and pulled her up the street pointing out sights and talking about the history of the town and its surrounding area. According to history, one of Aberdeen's claim to fame was that William Wallace, a Scottish hero, routed some English out of the city during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Sasuke showed off the little gem to Naruto as they walked back to the University. The Granite City was filled with beautiful architecture, most of it made from granite. There were also several castles in the surrounding area that Sasuke was making plans to take Naruto to tomorrow not to mention gardens and the bay.

"Naruto," Sasuke started only to be drawn up short when Naruto froze. He turned around to see what had drawn her attention now only to have a low growl rumble through his chest.

A flannel clad arm was locked securely around her throat with another hand holding a knife to the delicate skin. A small drop of blood was slipping down the tan flesh showing up darkly against it. A craggy face appeared next to hers with a nasty grin pulling the flesh back into a creepy mask, it reminded Sasuke of those faces that were sometimes displayed on the side of buildings to ward off evil spirits.

"Now isn't this a sweet sight," the man holding Naruto mocked, his accent letting Sasuke know that he was a local. "A pair of lovers out for a nightly stroll."

Sasuke set his jaw and waited for the man to tell him what he wanted though he already knew from the worn and torn look of his shirt and pants.

"Be a good man and hand me your wallet," the gargoyle demanded, " and your woman won't suffer any damage."

Sasuke refrained from pointing out that he'd already cut her causing damage but Sasuke didn't want to anger the mugger and make the situation worse. He slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"'urry up!' barked the man as he looked around. There wasn't anyone but that didn't mean that someone wouldn't appear soon. After all they were on a lane that was frequented by tourists and students from the university.

Sasuke watched as the hand holding the knife began to tremble slightly and he heard a small gasp from Naruto as the knife dug deeper into her.

"Take it easy, man," Sasuke ground out lowly holding out his wallet, the need to attack the man fighting against the need to keep Naruto safe and alive. He had plans for both of their lives and he was determined to keep those plans in place.

The man's eyes locked on the piece of black leather and he reached out with the hand that had been holding on to Naruto. Unfortunately, he'd had enough brains to keep the knife hand where it was locked tightly against the beloved throat. The gargoyle snatched the wallet out of his hand and fumbled to open it.

"What the 'ell kind of name is Sasuke Uchiha?" the man asked seeing his ID before opening the pouch that held his money. "Pretty boy must be rich, no wonder you like 'im so much." The money distracted him slightly so that the knife moved away from her throat. He pulled nearly three hundred from the wallet and tucked it into his back pocket before tossing the wallet to the side. "I'd like to thank ye kindly for your generous contribution and to make sure that you don follow…' The knife flashed in the dark and Sasuke heard Naruto cry out as the gargoyle buried the blade into her upper shoulder before shoving her towards Sasuke who caught her. The man was gone when he looked up.

Sasuke saw the dark splotch growing on her shoulder.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" he asked. Her eyes were closed tightly as she tried to clutch at her shoulder, small whimpers escaping lips that were pressed tightly together against the pain.

"Yeah," she panted.

"Good," he remarked sitting her up to sway unsteadily next to him then pulling out his cell phone and dialing the emergency number. After quickly explaining what happened and receiving confirmation that the police and an ambulance were on their way, he set the phone down on the pavement making sure to keep it open if the operator needed more information as to where they were or she needed to relay information. He pulled her onto his lap and laid her against his chest making sure that he didn't bump her injury.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Naruto mumbled between hitched breaths.

"What do you mean? You didn't have anything to do with this."

"I know, but I still feel guilty that it happened. Maybe if I wasn't here then you wouldn't have left the bar without your friends and then you wouldn't have been attacked."

Sasuke shook his head at the backward logic. "Firstly, I wasn't the one attacked. And Secondly, I would rather it have been me than someone who would have lost their composure and made the situation worse, possibly killing someone in the process."

"That's...noble, dumb, but noble," she muttered.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. He heard the sound of sirens getting closer and knew that help would be arriving soon. He tucked Naruto's head under his chin and pulled her tighter as the police rounded the corner and came to a stop first then the ambulance. Two large men strolled up to them as if they had all the time in the world, then crouched down to eye level.

"Are you Sasuke Uchiha?" one of them asked.

Sasuke nodded then glance up as a paramedic ran up dropping to the ground with a large duffel bag. The police man was shouldered aside by the female tech and easily forgotten by Sasuke as he was about to find out if Naruto would be alright. The bag opened to show an assortment of gear and first aid equipment. The medic pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the sleeve of Naruto shirt all the way down parting the material easily with the sharp instrument that could probably cut through steel just as easily. Naruto hissed as the woman probed at the wound then smiled up at them.

"It's deep but clean so a couple of stitches is all she'd going to need," the medic said. "Let's get her up and into the ambulance so that we can take her to the emergency room and get her fixed up."

Sasuke's teeth relaxed from being clenched together and a soreness that he hadn't noticed set in making him realize that he'd been scared that the injury was worse, possibly even life threatening. He felt heat suffuse his face at the illogic that had entered his normally calm, rational brain. He took a deep breath letting it out slowly then felt Naruto's hand settle onto his chest and pet him in a soothing manner.

"Its okay, Sasuke," Naruto said quietly then pushed away letting the medic help her to stand. She winced as her shoulder was bumped and the movement caused the already abused arm to stretch and pull. Sasuke jumped to his feet and followed Naruto and the medic to the ambulance.

"Mr. Uchiha, is this yours?"

Sasuke looked around and saw the cop holding up his wallet bringing the memories of the night right back to the front of his head. He nodded and reached out to take the wallet.

"I'd like to ask you about what happened," the man said. "I'm Detective Campbell."

"Hn, could we talk about this at the hospital?" Sasuke asked then looked back to where Naruto was sitting in the ambulance with a now impatient looking medic. Her partner was looking back at them over his shoulder wanting to leave also.

"It would be best to do so now. Every minute that we delay is a minute longer that the mugger has a chance to get away," the detective explained. His partner was already looking around the scene shuffling and squatting then moving on as he tried to find clues as to which way the attacker had gone.

Sasuke reluctantly nodded. "I'll meet you there,' he said to Naruto just as the doors were closing. He felt bereft as the ambulance pulled away and closed his eyes to regain some of the Uchiha composure before turning back to the policeman with a cold, emotionless mask in place.

愛愛愛愛

When Sasuke walked into the emergency room, Naruto was sitting in one of the chairs joking with a pretty nurse. A spike of killing need went through him making his eyes flash red before he pulled it back onto the dark place and locked the door. Her shoulder had been bandaged though the sleeve was still dangling at her side. Naruto looked up with blue eyes sparkling. The mirth that had gathered in her eyes changed and softened as she saw him walking up.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet and rushing over to leap into his arms. Sasuke caught her to his chest and hugged her warm, alive body against his. Letting her out of his sight for the past hour had been one of the hardest things that he'd done in his whole entire life. Tonight things could have been a lot worse and he could have lost her. Having her pressed up against him and feeling her heart as it beat against her ribcage and his was the best reassurance that he could have.

"Naruto," he breathed his lips finding her temple and laying a hard kiss against it.

Naruto pushed away from him then sparkled up at him. "Come," she said taking his hand and pulling her over to meet the nurse that had been sitting with her. "Sasuke, this is Haku. He was kind enough to keep me company and take my mind off the doctor stitching me up." Sasuke remembered Naruto's fear of the doctors and anything resembling a hospital and the last time that he'd seen the unusually healthy girl sick. It'd been years ago and she'd had tonsillitis and she hadn't even had a sniffle since.

Haku stood and held out his hand to Sasuke to shake but Sasuke looked down at his outstretched hand with an upraised eyebrow, then pulled Naruto into his side in a move that made it more than obvious that he was a possessive, jealous bastard. Haku grinned and held up his hands as if surrendering to the other man's claim.

"Please to meet you, Sasuke. Naruto has been filling me in on your lives while we waited for you," he stated his eyes twinkling before growing sober. "It's been quite a journey for you both."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted feeling Naruto pinch his side causing him to squeeze her tightly until a tiny squeak escaped.

"Don't be rude," she admonished before shaking his arm off her shoulder and moving a step away.

Before they could say anything else a tall man in a doctor's white lab coat strode up to sling an arm around Haku's shoulders. Haku blushed prettily at the man's gesture but didn't move away.

"Ah! Sasuke, this is Dr. Zabuza Momochi," Naruto introduced. "He's the doctor that sewed me up."

The man towered over the three by nearly a foot and his lower face was wrapped in bandages causing him to look very intimidating, kind of a Jack the Ripper effect. His dark hair stood on end in messy spikes like he'd rubbed his hand through it several times in frustration.

Sasuke nodded politely looking from the doctor to Haku and back. "Thank you for taking care of Naruto for me, both of you. She hates hospitals and it take a near force of nature to make her go when she had set her mind against it."

"Not a problem," Dr. Momochi commented, "we get that a lot but mostly from little kids."

Naruto turned into a good imitation of a tomato as the three looked at her.

"Fine," Naruto said, "I'm still a little kid, but you have to admit that hospitals aren't full of fun and joy. When was the last time you saw a clown here?"

"I believe that it was just last week during the Children's Circus," Haku stated. "We brought in several clowns and circus performers to entertain the kids that won't be able to see them otherwise."

Naruto's head dropped to her chest as her little triumph had been thwarted by the nurse.

"Com on, Naruto, it's getting late and I'm sure that these two probably have better things to do than entertain us," Sasuke said taking her hand.

"Yeah, I need to find a supply closet so that I can have some alone time with Haku. It's been nearly three hours," Zabuza said which cause the smaller man in his arms, not to mention the other two people, to blush hotly.

Sasuke tilted his head in farewell then they turned to leave. Naruto walking next to Sasuke out into the chilly air. She shivered faintly before pressing against Sasuke to try and absorb some of the heat coming off of him.

"So I've become a personally radiator, have I?" he asked as his arm came around her to hold her steady against him.

"Absolutely."

"Hn."

"I really liked those two," Naruto said as she glanced back over her shoulder at the closed doors.

"Yeah, they were good people even though the doctor looked like a serial killer."

"Hn." Naruto yawned widely and let her eyes slid to half mast, an indication of how tired she was from the flight and also from the events that'd happened.

"So where's your hotel?" Sasuke asked. "We need to get you back and tucked into bed."

"With you."

Silence greeted her statement and Sasuke felt his chest constrict before looking down at Naruto.

"No really, Naruto, where are you staying?" He didn't think that he could take her joking with him this way. Not with how much he wanted her. They'd never really officially said anything about waiting but he'd just thought that it was an understanding between them.

"I'm not joking, I'm staying with you," Naruto looked up at him with complete seriousness written in every line of her beautiful features. Her blue eyes were clear and bright, shining with the innocence that she was now offering up to him. Then she stopped walking making him halt as well. He turned to face her completely. "I—I've thought about this for a while now, and with what has happened tonight, I…I wannabewithyou!" She rushed through it jumbling the words together.

Sasuke stared down at her, watching as she clasped her hand together then fidgeted, wringing her hands together until he took them into his own. His mind had focused back on what had happened earlier tonight when she'd brought it up again. He had nearly lost her and with what she'd just said the pain he felt earlier at seeing that knife pressed against her throat came back tenfold. Not only had she nearly lost her life, but he'd almost lost his chance to be with her completely in every sense of the word, he'd nearly lost the chance to have that connection with her that he'd been planning the rest of his life around.

When Sasuke had taken her hands, Naruto looked up at him with a small smile hovering about her lips, hoping that he didn't reject her. Her heart was pounding in her chest like a wild bird that had been suddenly caged and was now beating its wings against the wire bars looking for a way out. Her mouth was dry as she waited for a response from him and boy did she get one.

Without a word, Sasuke turned and began striding up the street towards his apartment, pulling Naruto along only pausing long enough for her to regain her footing as she stumbled to keep up. It took nearly ten minutes to get back to his apartment but he didn't slow down and soon he was towing her up the short flight of steps and through the doorway. He didn't even slow down to day 'Hi' to Neji who was looking a little stunned as he saw that Naruto's sleeve was dangling from her shoulder and white bandage was wrapped around her upper arm.

Sasuke pulled her down the hallway and into his room where he froze after slamming the door shut. Naruto was standing next to him, wide eyed, as she waited for Sasuke to move.

"Sasu--" She didn't get any further as Sasuke pulled her into his arms once more and his lips settled down on hers.

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**A/N: YES! *grinning evilly* O.O Please don't kill me, but I've decided to change the rating on this fic. I know, I know...there, there, its okay. I just felt that it wasn't needed here, and really most of you are kids and shouldn't be reading that anyway because your brains aren't mature enough for such things. :) But I love you people anyway even if you are throwing virtual rotten fruit at me right now. Thanks for all you support and please don't forget to leave a review. and yes, I know that I have some grammar and spelling errors but I'll go through it later and I hope that it didn't turn you off of the fic.**

**ZEN  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Okay, I get it! Are you happy now, I changed the rating back to M! And now some of you are going to hate me even more but On With The Story!**

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Sitting on the small white bench under a large Sakura tree that Naruto had insisted that they bring back from a trip from Japan, Sasuke watched as a small orange kitten tackled his litter-mate. The black kitten retaliated by swiping his little paw across the back of the tabby's head in a fair imitation for it to quit being so foolish. Shaking his head and cocking it in question the little tabby looked at the inky black kitten before leaping into the air and pouncing. Sasuke chuckled at the two little kittens' antics feeling the air rustle the pink blossoms.

Looking up he sighed, Naruto was late again. Being raised by Kakashi had given her some very annoying habits and one of them made it so that she rarely looked at a watch, clock, or any other device that would give her the time. She was perpetually late, the only time that she had been on time was when they'd…

愛愛愛愛

"Will you hurry?!" Sasuke exclaimed as he practically dragged Naruto down the corridor that would lead them to their flight. They'd ended up sleeping late and had to rush out of the small apartment. Sasuke knew that he'd forgotten something but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was. He'd checked and double checked the apartment for anything they could have missed before carrying Naruto out the door and to the cab.

The week had been filled with packing and shipping everything that couldn't be packed in a suitcase. The coffee pot, TV, futon, and stereo, along with other items that he'd accumulated during the year he'd been in college had been carefully packed in Styrofoam peanuts and/or bubble wrap then boxed and labeled with his parents' address in Konoha.

"Sasuke, the plane isn't due to leave for another five minute!" Naruto yelled as she was hauled around people as Sasuke rushed to meet their plane.

"And if I left anything up to you we would have been an hour late and would have had to pay an enormous sum of money in order to get the next flight out!"

"Wouldn't they have taken the fact that we already have tickets into consideration?"

"Who knows, but I do not want to have to take that chance so let's move!"

He heard Naruto huff out a panting breath before she skipped in order to keep up with his longer strides. Her hair pulled up in pig tails bounced and swung with each little jump causing him no amount of lustful thoughts. He tugged a little harder on her hand as he caught sight of the gate that they needed.

Handing the two tickets to the attendant—he hadn't trusted Naruto to keep them safe—the were ushered onto the flight just seconds before the door was closed behind them. Naruto rolled her eyes at the 'See, I told you' look that Sasuke had tossed over his shoulder. They'd quickly taken their seats, shoving the two carry-ons into the overhead compartment, and fastening their seat belts as one of the flight attendants announced that they would be departing on time and to please not undo the seat belt until the sign saying that they could lit up.

Naruto immediately tucked her head into his shoulder and went back to sleep because Sasuke had insisted that they take the earliest flight he could which meant that he'd had to force Naruto out of bed at four o'clock in the morning. He sighed and leaned back in his own seat, pulled on the head phones to his ipod and started dozing as well.

He woke up some time later and glancing at the Rolex that his father had given him as a graduation present, he saw that he'd been asleep for nearly four hours. Shifting slightly as the reason that he was now awake made him uncomfortable he nudged Naruto into semi-wakefulness. She shifted off his shoulder with a grumble before leaning towards the window and going back to sleep. Sasuke glanced out the window to see nothing but clouds and a wide expanse of blue water below them.

Standing and making his way carefully down the isle towards the small cubicles, he steadied himself on the backs of unoccupied seats so that he didn't stumble and fall when the plane hit turbulence. The unoccupied bathroom that he stepped into was tiny barely big enough for the sink and toilet that held it let alone a person. He quickly finished his business, washed his hands, and opened the door to nearly run into Naruto who was now standing just outside with a very suspicious grin on her face.

She stepped forward until she was pressed up against his chest and looked shyly up into his eyes.

"Do you know that on the way over I had some very interesting dreams?" Her large cerulean eyes looked up at him with innocence causing him to swallow convulsively.

"Hn…" the usual grunt was weak and questioning. Sasuke took a step back and Naruto took a step forward. The game continued for two more steps until they were both back in the bathroom and Naruto shut the door behind her with a snap locking it in place.

"Have you ever heard of the Mile High Club?" she whispered and Sasuke could hear the trepidation in her voice even though she was feigning bravado.

"Yes," Sasuke said gathering up those more than eager little fantasies that he'd been having since Naruto had shown up at the pub. "Are you…?" He didn't have a chance to finish the question as Naruto raised up on tip toes and pulled his head down to claim his mouth in a searing, fearful kiss.

Not one to stand back and let anyone have control, Sasuke quickly took over the kiss and plundered Naruto lips. His tongue invaded the warm moist cavern and tasting every inch of it. His mind had tuned to white fuzz at the first hint of what Naruto had suggested, and he was happily going along with it despite the risk of being caught. He pulled her tightly into his arms his hands moving up to remove those mind altering pig tails that drove him wild.

His hands sank into the curls once he had the elastics pulled out and he an his fingers through the silky strands enjoying the coolness and texture as they slid in between the more sensitive area of his hands. Naruto moaned as he messaged her scalp while his tongue did wicked things to hers.

Naruto's hands pushed his shirt up and he broke the kiss long enough for her to pulled his shirt over his head letting it land in the damp sink. He didn't even care that there would be water spot on it when he put it back on as Naruto's hands were now running along the had planes of his chest.

Taking her lead he pulled her own shirt over his head and let it land on top of his and then he tugged quickly on her bra until he could pull it off as well. The peach colored fabric one of his favorite and Sasuke took a moment to wonder if Naruto had already been planning this little rendezvous. He smiled to himself as he bent in an awkward manner so that he could catch one of her perky little nipples with his teeth.

Sasuke was rewarded with Naruto's gasp as he bit and tugged at the hard bud before licking it slowly then latching onto it so that he could lavish it with love. He hauled Naruto upwards and she wrapped her legs around his hips increasing the leverage and he balanced her on the edge of the sink, giving him the perfect angle. The hot dampness that greeted his dick had him bumping against her center and Naruto moaned at the contact.

"S—S—Sasuke! More, please, more," she whimpered trying to slip of the sink and follow his hips but Sasuke held her firmly in place.

"Soon," Sasuke groaned into her ear wanting to grind against her until he came but wanting to sink deeply into that heat even more. "My little vixen, soon." He pulled out a foil packet and handed it to Naruto before tugging on the button and zipper of his trousers. His erection sprang free and Naruto, blushing deeply, helped Sasuke to secure the condom in place.

He tugged the orange and red print skirt up exposing the peach lace thong that matched the bra to his hungry eyes. With a quick tug the thong panties were lying on the floor of the cubicle forgotten as Sasuke slipped the head of his penis into the delicious wetness that was Naruto.

"SA…"

Sasuke cut off Naruto's wail and swallowed it along with Naruto's mouth again. He kept her quiet as he thrust into her in a rapid pace. He could tell when she was getting ready to come because her muscles tensed up and her legs quivered.

"Don't come yet," Sasuke ordered.

"I—I can't st—stop it!" Naruto argued back but tried to stave of her orgasm as long as possible.

"You will!"

Sasuke increased his pace, pulling her legs higher up onto his shoulders as Naruto leaned back against the mirror that was hanging over the sink. Seeing her mouth open to let loose another wail, Sasuke quickly covered it with his hand and keeping a tight grip on Naruto with the other. Naruto moaned and screamed into his hand as she tried to buck her hips into his.

"Good girl, Naruto," Sasuke muttered as she kept her pleasure at bay while Sasuke's got closer and closer. "Just a little more…that's right…god, you feel so good…hn…mmm…hng…okay…alright…NOW!"

With the spoken command, Naruto flung back her head and cried out as her orgasm crashed over them both causing Sasuke's as her muscles tightened on him, messaging his cock and milking him of the cum that he was spurting inside of her. Unable, and unwilling to help himself he joined Naruto in the noise.

They hurriedly cleaned up and pulled their close back on before stepping out of the cubicle to see several people looking at them with knowing grins.

"Ah crap!" Sasuke growled.

"What is it?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My diploma is under the bed where you knocked it yesterday," Sasuke muttered then smiled as he remembered why he hadn't retrieved it.

愛愛愛愛

Sasuke smiled at the fond memory as the petals of the tree rained down around him.

The two kittens crashed into his feet drawing him out of the dream and back into reality. There were so many memories that he couldn't pick just one but if any one memory stood out in his head it was…

愛愛愛愛

Looking up at all the flowers that were arranged on the alter, Sasuke tried desperately to calm the pounding heart that was trying its best to escape from his chest. Itachi stood next to him chuckling then leaning closer.

"She's probably came to her senses," he muttered out of the side of his mouth and into Sasuke's ear.

"Unlike some people I know, Naruto has lots of sense," Sasuke returned with an irritated growl.

"Yeah, but I heard her telling Sakura earlier that she was extremely nervous."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, haven't you ever heard of the Runaway Bride?"

"Hn."

"She probably jumped out the window and you won't see her again."

"Hn."

"Or perhaps that friend of hers…Gaara…Is that his name?"

"Hn?"

"Maybe he kidnapped her so that he could have her all to himself."

"Shut up, idiot."

"And right now they are having mad monkey sex in the back of the limo."

Sasuke's brain immediately went to the picture that Itachi had just painted and he couldn't get it out of his head. He didn't even see the red head that was sitting in the third row back from the front of the church, his mind focused entirely on what Itachi had just referenced.

"Oh, come on, little bother! Quit being so foolish," Itachi sighed sarcastically. "If Naruto had wanted anyone else she wouldn't have proposed to you in front of god and everyone!"

Sasuke's brain shifted to the time that Itachi had said.

They'd been going out for over five years and Sasuke hadn't been able to get up the nerve to ask Naruto to marry him. He'd dragged his feet, even though he'd bought the ring a week they'd come back from Scotland and he'd carried it with him nearly every where.

It was his twenty first birthday and Naruto had insisted that they celebrate it along with all their family and friends, but instead of having it at one of their houses, Naruto had dragged everyone to the park for a cook out.

Just before full dark and as soon as the fireflies had come out to light up the darkening sky, Naruto lit several candles and walked calmly over to him, slipped out the ring box (which caused everyone to laugh), bent down on one knee and asked Sasuke to be his bride (again causing everyone to laugh hysterically). Sasuke had immediately agreed, scooping Naruto off the ground, and pulling her into a hug where he threatened her that if she thought he was going to be the bride she had another think coming. Naruto had giggled into his t-shirt then hugged him tightly before letting him kiss her soundly.

The organs first note drew his attention to the back of the church and out of the past. There Naruto stood in a flowing white wedding dress, veil draped over her head, and clutching a spray of orange and white flowers held together by a midnight blue ribbon. Sasuke stood up tall and straightened the vest that matched that ribbon then pulling the black tuxedo jacket down. He was glad that he was wearing the white gloves because he was sure that his hands would be sweating up a storm.

Naruto's eyes glistened faintly with tears as her eyes met his across the expanse of the church and she started up the isle, her heart showing him everything that she felt including the love she had for him. Sasuke felt his own sting knowing that they showed the love that he'd felt for this girl his entire life from the time she'd emerged from a spider ridden bush to just this very second and beyond.

愛愛愛愛

The rest of the day had pasted in a blur of flowers, friends, and family.

Sasuke glanced down at the Rolex that was attached to his wrist. Ten minutes late, he wondered if he should go and find her but he'd promised to meet her here and an Uchiha doesn't go back on his word. Sighing he felt the little kittens nudge his leg and he bent over picking them up. They settled calmly into his lap as he shifted to accommodate them.

Over the years, Sasuke had watched as Naruto became a wonderful wife and mother. They'd had four children who had grown up to be just as caring as their mother, but each had also inherited a lot of Sasuke also. Their oldest was a young woman with red gold hair who could glare her younger siblings into doing anything she wanted of them. They'd named her after Naruto's mother, Kushina. Next came Shisui, named after Sasuke favorite cousin. His hair was just as dark as a raven's wing but with a huge grin that always reminded Sasuke of Naruto. The boy was even more of a genius than his father; he'd gone to MIT and then had joined the company, increasing its assets to nearly three times what Itachi had managed in all the time he spent at the company. Their third child was a bit of a Earth lover, Amaru was all about helping the earth in any fashion be it recycling to convincing everyone on their families' as well as their friends to build green homes. Secretly, Sasuke loved the tofu eating girl the most even though he knew that he shouldn't have favorites, but she'd reminded him so much of her mother right down to the golden blond hair that was usually untidy and wanted to stand up in spikes. Their last child was a shy boy who Naruto insisted on naming after both of their fathers. Fugaku Iruka Minato Kakashi Uchiha. Thank, God, the boy had grown into his name even if he went by Kaka Jr. The boy had been every bit as hyper active as his mother but tended to think things out before jumping into anything, though with age he had grown calmer and had joined the Marines right out of high school. He was still in the military, a Major now and ordering men younger than him into battle or yelling at them for not spit shining their shoes properly.

Yes, their family had grown and when they wanted to get together, they had to reserve that park weeks in advance so that they could have the whole thing.

With everyone counted there was Sakura and Lee and their five children, twenty one grand kids and eight greats; Kiba and Hinata who at last count had eight kids, sixty-four grandbabies, and almost fifty greats (almost because her youngest was pregnant again); Neji and Tenten who had two children, four grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren, with one great, great grand child on the way; Chouji and Ino who'd adopted one child and had three grand children, and five great grand children; Shikamaru and Temari, their four children, five great grandchildren, and one great, great grandbaby; Shino and his life partner, Zaku, and their two adopted children, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren; Gaara and his wife, Matsuri, and their six kids, twenty-four grandkids, and fifty-seven great grand kids. Sadly, though, Gaara's older brother, Konkuro had died in the Great War. Then Itachi had married a man by the name of Kisame, who was so pale that it looked like his skin was nearly blue, they'd adopted and fostered nearly eighteen children, and they had fifty eight grandchildren, one hundred and two great grandchildren, and twenty great, great grand children. Yes, their family had indeed grown.

Sasuke heard a footsteps and glanced up from the inky black fur mixed with bright orange into blue eyes that were every bit as bright as they had ever been.

"You're late," Sasuke said standing and dislodging the kittens who jumped to the ground and glared up at him. He ignored them.

"I know," Naruto said as she linked her arm with his.

"So what is so important about today?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to spend some time with you before you go back to watching our grandchildren and great grandchildren," Naruto said as she smiled up at him.

Sasuke grinned. He bent down and dropped a kiss onto her lips. He reached up and tucked a white strand behind her ears. To him it was still golden and soft. Her face was unlined and smooth. Her touch strong and sure. And he knew that she still saw him as every bit as handsome as he'd been the night that they had shared their first kiss.

The petals of the tree fell around them like snow falling some even landing in her hair.

"Do you know how wonderful our life together has been?" Naruto asked as they began to wander down the path.

There were memories upon memories store up inside their hearts. Their lives had been filled with some sorrows but more joys to counter act them. Every day had been an adventure from Naruto knowing when one of her children, grand children and great grandchildren had been hurt, to kittens, to business. There had been so many firsts and each one more precious than the last. First babies, first teeth, first haircuts, first friends, first crushes, first kisses, first dates, marriages, and so on in a never ending cycle. There had been successes and failures, broken hearts, and mended wings; dreams that had become a reality, and dreams that had faded to be replaced with even better ones.

"Yes," Sasuke replied.

"Is their anything that you would like to go back and redo?" Naruto asked.

"Not one little thing," Sasuke said. "We've gone through just about everything, from births and deaths to friendship and love and there isn't a single moment that I would give up or redo because I did them all with you."

Naruto leaned into Sasuke at his words her heart filled with joy beyond measure. Sasuke was correct. Every moment that she cherished had been with him, through friendship and love.

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**A/N: Alrighty, are you happy now! And please don't hate me too much. I thought about this chapter and thought about it so more and every time I tried to write something else it was utter and complete crap! I hope that you don't hate me too much (I did add a lemon O.O). Its a short chapter and it covered a lot of things and was probably so poorly written that you didn't even like it but that's it! There's the ending for you. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought about it.**

**Okay, reasons behind this: One) I wanted to do the whole Sasuke asking Naruto to marry him and the wedding and the whole shebang but it just wasn't comeing together and I got bored really qucikly with it. Two) I have a couple of other fictions in the works and I want to devote some time to fixing them and getting them going. and Three) because I wanted to!**

**Well, again please leave a REVIEW and I will try to get you a new story up and running soon but in the mean time check out my other stories if you haven't already or you can check out my favorite authors (people who've written more than one story that I have just really enjoyed). And thanks so much for reading this fiction!!!**

**Your friendly neighborhood author,  
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**ZEN  
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